Fence laws in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
What the Mount Pleasant municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Mount Pleasant sets no rule of its own, the South Carolina rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The same table that gives a fence its height gives it its setbacks, and every one of them is zero. The figure is 0 feet, for setback required from any lot line for a minor accessory structure.
- How tall
- Mount Pleasant never writes a fence height. The figure is 15 feet, for maximum height for a minor accessory structure, which is what a fence is.
- Permits
- The accessory use table says a zoning permit is required for a fence and then hangs a footnote on it that takes most fences back out, and the answer turns on the height, the material and whether the lot is a corner lot. The figure is 7 feet, for height at or below which a fence needs no zoning permit.
- Pool barriers
- South Carolina fences every outdoor public swimming pool. The figure is 4 feet, for minimum fence height around an outdoor Type B, C, D or F public swimming pool.
- Spite fences
- Mount Pleasant has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Mount Pleasant leaves the measuring rule to the zoning ordinance of a municipality or county.
- Corner lots
- The fence section states the corner rule as a duty and then points somewhere else for the standard.
- Retaining walls
- Mount Pleasant leaves retaining walls to the 2021 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, whose Sections R105.2 and R404 South Carolina leaves unchanged. It reaches one and two family dwellings only.
- Materials
- Section 156.448 is two sentences and the first of them is the whole material rule: the finished side of the fence has to face outward, toward adjacent lots or the street, as applicable, and the answer turns on what the fence is made of and which side of it is finished.
- Livestock
- South Carolina puts the duty on the animal owner.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Mount Pleasant?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Mount Pleasant answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The same table that gives a fence its height gives it its setbacks, and every one of them is zero. Front, internal side, corner lot side and rear all read zero feet for a minor accessory use or structure, so a fence may stand on any boundary of the lot. The table states plainly that it is specifying the minimum distance an accessory structure has to be from the lot line, which is why a row of zeroes is an answer rather than a blank. The contrast inside the same table is sharp: a major residential accessory structure takes six feet from an internal side line and six from the rear, and the district setback across the front. A retaining wall over four feet leaves the minor category altogether and takes the district setbacks with it.
Table 156.424-1: Setbacks and Height for Accessory Uses and Structures specifies the minimum distance an accessory structure or use must be located from the lot line.
0 ftsetback required from any lot line for a minor accessory structure
Also on fences on the property line in Mount Pleasant
- no rule, documents checkedSouth Carolina has no statewide law about a fence on the line. The Code of Laws never says how two neighbors split the cost of a fence on a shared line, and it sets no notice steps before one goes up. A phrase search of the whole Code of Laws returns nothing for partition fence, division fence, boundary fence, lawful fence, joint expense or fence viewers. Splitting that cost is left to a private agreement between the neighbors and to local rules. S.C. Code Title 47, Chapter 7South Carolina · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Mount Pleasant?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Mount Pleasant answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Mount Pleasant never writes a fence height. It sorts every accessory structure into major or minor and then puts the numbers in one table. A fence is named in the list of minor accessory uses and structures, alongside mailboxes, flagpoles, driveways, play equipment and a retaining wall under four feet. Table 156.424-1 gives a minor accessory structure a maximum height of fifteen feet. That is the tallest ordinary residential fence figure in this project and it is a side effect of the drafting rather than a decision about fences, since the same fifteen feet covers a flagpole and a basketball goal. A major residential accessory structure, meaning a shed, a garage or a pool, gets twenty five feet and real setbacks instead. The permit rule in Table 156.436-1 treats seven feet as the line that matters in practice.
Examples include mailboxes; flagpoles; fences; landscape features; fruit, vegetable, and ornamental gardens; driveways; parking areas; swing sets, play houses, and play equipment, including basketball goals; and retaining walls less than four feet in height.
15 ftmaximum height for a minor accessory structure, which is what a fence is
Also on fence height in Mount Pleasant
- no rule, documents checkedSouth Carolina sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. Title 6, Chapter 9 hands the choice of a building code to the Building Codes Council and says nothing about the height of a yard fence, and Title 27 has no fence chapter at all. Cities and counties set the height. S.C. Code Title 6, Chapter 9South Carolina · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Mount Pleasant?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Mount Pleasant answers this, but the answer changes depending on the height, the material and whether the lot is a corner lot.
The accessory use table says a zoning permit is required for a fence and then hangs a footnote on it that takes most fences back out. No permit is needed for a fence seven feet or less, unless one of two things is true: it is built of brick, stone or concrete, or it sits on a corner lot along one or more lot lines that adjoin a street right of way. So the trigger is not only height. A four foot brick wall needs the permit and a seven foot wood fence behind a house does not, because the town is checking the two things a fence can get wrong here, a masonry wall that is really a structure and a fence that blocks a corner. Above seven feet the permit is required whatever it is made of, and a retaining wall over four feet has its own separate permit line in the same table.
A zoning permit is not required for a fence that is seven feet in height or less, unless it is constructed of brick, stone, or concrete; or is located on a corner lot along one or more lot lines adjacent to a street right-of-way.
The answer turns on the height, the material and whether the lot is a corner lot.
- a fence seven feet or under
- No zoning permit. 7 ft
- brick, stone or concrete
- A zoning permit at any height.
- a corner lot along a street
- A zoning permit.
- anything over seven feet
- A zoning permit.
Also on permits in Mount Pleasant
- set in state lawSouth Carolina writes no building code of its own. Section 6-9-50 directs the South Carolina Building Codes Council to adopt the latest International Code Council codes by reference, the residential code among them, and section 6-9-10 makes every city and county in the state enforce them. So the fence permit exemption sits inside that adopted residential code. The code is sold by the International Code Council and is not posted on a South Carolina state site, so the exemption wording is not quoted here. S.C. Code 6-9-50(A)South Carolina · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Mount Pleasant
Compare pool barriers across all 50 states
South Carolina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
South Carolina fences every outdoor public swimming pool. A Type A or Type E pool takes a chain link fence or equal barrier at least six feet tall. A Type B, C, D or F pool takes a fence at least four feet tall, measured from the outside of the pool area. Gates latch on their own and can be locked, and no gap in the fence may let a four inch ball through. The rule is health regulation R.61-51 and it covers public pools.
This one is South Carolina law, not Mount Pleasant law. All South Carolina findings
All outdoor Type "B", "C", "D" and "F" public swimming pools (including the deck area) shall be enclosed by a minimum four foot fence as measured from the exterior of the pool area.
4 ftminimum fence height around an outdoor Type B, C, D or F public swimming pool
Spite fence laws in Mount Pleasant
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Mount Pleasant law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
South Carolina has no spite fence law. The word spite does not appear anywhere in the Code of Laws, and no section limits a fence built to annoy a neighbor or sets a height that triggers one. A claim of that kind would rest on court rulings or a city ordinance.
This one is South Carolina law, not Mount Pleasant law. All South Carolina findings
Documents read before writing that:
- S.C. Code Title 27South Carolina General Assembly
- S.C. Code Title 46, Chapter 1South Carolina General Assembly
How fence height is measured in Mount Pleasant
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Mount Pleasant does not set this. It leaves it to the zoning ordinance of a municipality or county.
South Carolina sets one fence height in state law and never says six feet from what. The solar energy facility standards in the planning chapter require a perimeter fence of at least six feet, with no measuring point attached to it. For every other kind of property the answer is local. Section 6-29-720 lets a city or county zoning ordinance control the size, location, height, bulk and orientation of buildings and other structures, and that ordinance is where the measuring point is written.
This one is South Carolina law, not Mount Pleasant law. All South Carolina findings
the size, location, height, bulk, orientation, number of stories, erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, demolition, or removal in whole or in part of buildings and other structures, including signage
The code hands this to the zoning ordinance of a municipality or county, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on how height is measured in Mount Pleasant
- no rule, documents checkedTable 156.424-1 gives a minor accessory structure fifteen feet of height and never says what the fifteen feet is read from. No grade is named, no curb, no finished ground level. The seven foot figure in the permit footnote carries no datum either. A berm is not addressed. A fence standing on a retaining wall is not addressed, which is a real gap here because the code puts a retaining wall under four feet in the same minor category as a fence and sends taller ones into the district setbacks, so the two are plainly expected to appear together. A fence running down a slope is not addressed, and nothing says whose side of a boundary the height is read from, which matters when the setback on every side is zero and the fence is therefore expected to sit on the line. Section 156.424Mount Pleasant · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Mount Pleasant
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Mount Pleasant answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The fence section states the corner rule as a duty and then points somewhere else for the standard. On a corner lot, a fence along one or more lot lines next to a street right of way may not interfere with required intersection sight distance as specified in Section 155.048(A)(12). Reading that subsection is worth doing, because it is one sentence long and contains no arithmetic. It says landscaping, signs or other objects shall not interfere with needed sight distance, and that is all it says. There is no triangle, no leg length, no protected band of height and no exception for an open fence. So the corner rule in Mount Pleasant is a judgment made by the reviewer rather than a shape drawn on a plan, which is also why a corner lot fence needs a zoning permit at any height while an interior lot fence under seven feet does not.
On corner lots, a fence located along one or more lot lines adjacent to a street right-of-way shall not interfere with required intersection sight distance, as specified in § 155.048(A)(12).
Also on corner visibility in Mount Pleasant
- left to the townSouth Carolina draws no corner triangle of its own. Chapter 6-29 writes the zoning grant broadly and lets each city and county fill it in. The grant covers the size, location and height of structures and signs, the size of yards and open spaces, and site plan items such as landscaping and curb cuts. A corner triangle fits inside that list. S.C. Code 6-29-720South Carolina · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in Mount Pleasant
Compare retaining walls across all 50 states
Mount Pleasant does not set this. It leaves it to the 2021 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, whose Sections R105.2 and R404 South Carolina leaves unchanged.
South Carolina writes no retaining wall rule of its own. The Building Codes Council adopts the 2021 International Residential Code and lists every change it made to that code, section by section, in Regulation Chapter 8. That list of changes was read end to end. It covers wind design, seismic design, fire separation, definitions and other items, and it never touches Section R105.2, the list of work that needs no permit, or Section R404, which covers foundation and retaining walls. So the rule that applies here is the model code text, which is sold by the International Code Council and is not printed on a South Carolina state site.
This one is South Carolina law, not Mount Pleasant law. All South Carolina findings
This code is identical to the 2021 Edition of the International Residential Code except for the following modifications:
The code hands this to the 2021 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, whose Sections R105.2 and R404 South Carolina leaves unchanged, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Mount Pleasant
Compare materials across all 50 states
Mount Pleasant answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence is made of and which side of it is finished.
Section 156.448 is two sentences and the first of them is the whole material rule: the finished side of the fence has to face outward, toward adjacent lots or the street, as applicable. The words as applicable matter, because a fence between two back yards has two adjacent lots and no street, and the section does not say which one wins. No material is permitted by name and none is prohibited by name in the section. Barbed wire does not appear in it. Razor wire does not appear. An electric fence does not appear. The only materials the fence rules name at all are brick, stone and concrete, and they are named in the permit footnote rather than to allow or forbid them, so building a fence out of masonry changes the paperwork and not the permission. In the districts under design review, appearance is decided by the Design Review Board.
The finished side of the fence must face outward, toward adjacent lots or the street, as applicable.
The answer turns on what the fence is made of and which side of it is finished.
- the finished side
- It faces the neighbor or the street.
- brick, stone or concrete
- Allowed, but it triggers the permit.
- barbed, razor or electric wire
- Not named in the fence section either way.
- a design review district
- The Design Review Board decides appearance.
Also on materials in Mount Pleasant
- no rule, documents checkedSouth Carolina never says what a fence may be built from. There is no fence chapter and no definition of a lawful fence. The two chapters closest to the question were read end to end. The stray and trespassing livestock chapter deals with catching, holding and selling loose animals and with who pays for the damage they do, and it never says what a fence is made of. The general agriculture chapter is a list of offenses and has nothing on fences. Neither one mentions barbed wire, razor wire or an electric fence. S.C. Code 47-7-10 to 47-7-170South Carolina · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Mount Pleasant
Compare agricultural fencing across all 50 states
South Carolina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
South Carolina puts the duty on the animal owner. An owner or manager may not let a domestic animal of any kind get past the edge of the land they own, lease, occupy or control, whether on purpose or through carelessness. Each offense carries a fine of up to twenty five dollars or up to twenty five days in jail.
This one is South Carolina law, not Mount Pleasant law. All South Carolina findings
It shall be unlawful for the owner or manager of any domestic animal of any description wilfully or negligently to permit any such animal to run at large beyond the limits of his own land or the lands leased, occupied or controlled by him.
Also on agricultural fencing in Mount Pleasant
- set in state lawA damages claim in South Carolina does not depend on a fence. When a domestic animal is found on land belonging to somebody else, the owner of that animal owes all the damage plus the cost of catching and keeping it, and the animal itself stands as security for that debt ahead of other claims. The landowner or tenant may seize a trespassing animal and hold it. S.C. Code 47-7-130South Carolina · Statute
- no rule, documents checkedSouth Carolina never describes a lawful fence. Title 47 has no fence chapter, and its livestock chapter runs from stray animals through trespassing stock to impounding without setting a height, a wire count, a board count or a post spacing. Title 46, the agriculture title, has no fence chapter either. The gap leaves no hole, because damages for a trespassing animal in South Carolina never turned on an enclosure, so there was nothing for a fence standard to measure. S.C. Code Title 47, Chapter 7South Carolina · Statute
Documents behind this page
10 documents, of which 1 was published by Mount Pleasant itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- South Carolina General AssemblySouth Carolina Code of Laws, Title 47, Chapter 7, Estrays; Livestock Trespassing or Running at Large
- South Carolina General AssemblySouth Carolina Code of Laws, Title 46, Chapter 1, General Provisions; Offenses
- South Carolina General AssemblySouth Carolina Code of Laws, Title 27, Property and Conveyances, chapter list
- Town of Mount PleasantMount Pleasant Code of Ordinances, Chapter 156, Zoning Code, Subchapter C, Part 4, Accessory Uses and Structures
- South Carolina General AssemblySouth Carolina Code of Laws, Title 6, Chapter 9, Building Codes
- South Carolina Department of Environmental ServicesSouth Carolina Code of Regulations, R.61-51, Public Swimming Pools
- South Carolina LegislatureSouth Carolina Code of Laws, Title 6, Chapter 29, South Carolina Local Government Comprehensive Planning Enabling Act of 1994
- South Carolina Building Codes CouncilSouth Carolina Code of Regulations, Chapter 8, International Residential Code
- South Carolina General AssemblySouth Carolina Code of Laws, Title 47, Animals, Livestock and Poultry, chapter list
- South Carolina General AssemblySouth Carolina Code of Laws, Title 46, Agriculture, chapter list
What this page does not cover
A city ordinance is not the only rule that reaches a fence. The zoning district a parcel sits in can change the height allowed on it, and so can an overlay district, a recorded easement, a fire hazard severity zone or a coastal zone. A homeowner association can be stricter than the city and nothing in the municipal code will say so. None of those appear here.
The rules above are the ones Mount Pleasant publishes, plus the South Carolina rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in South Carolina has the state layer in full.
This is general information drawn from published government documents. It is not legal advice, ordinances are amended, and the date beside each finding is the date the document was read. How findings are made · What the terms mean