Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Town of West Pelzer, South Carolina

Town of West Pelzer’s own rules

• Building permitRequired

  Construction, moving or alteration of any building inside West Pelzer town

  • An ordinance compliance letter from the zoning administrator must be issued first
  • Clearing or grading for construction also requires the compliance letter and a building permit

  “it shall be unlawful to commence construction, moving or alteration of any building until the zoning administrator or designee has issued an ordinance compliance letter and a building permit has been obtained from the town of west pelzer.”

• Local zoningPresent

  Land inside West Pelzer town limits

  • Adopted under S.C. Code Title 6, Chapter 7, Article 9, Section 6-7-710
  • Ordinance cover states effective December 2023

  “the ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the zoning ordinance of the town of west pelzer, south carolina.”

• Zoning districtsPublished

  Zoning districts inside West Pelzer town

  • Districts seen in the dimensional table: AF, R-1, R-2, R-3, CB, LI, GC; Section 3-6 also provides a flexible review district

  “af 43,560 1.000 43,560 200 none none 100 30 30 2.5 35 r-1 20,000 2.178 20,000 75 110 35 30 (1) 15 2.5 35”

• Minimum lot sizeSpecified

  R-1 single-family residential district, West Pelzer town

  • Table text is flattened in the source; column reading is inferred from headers (lot area, density, total lot area, width, depth)
  • Standards may be further limited by other sections of Article 5

  minimum lot area: >= 20000 sq ft · minimum lot width: >= 75 ft · minimum lot depth: >= 110 ft

  “r-1 20,000 2.178 20,000 75 110 35 30 (1) 15 2.5 35”

  2 more reviewed findings on this topic

  • Specified — R-2 residential district, single-family subdistrict (first row), West Pelzer town

    “r-2 8,000 4.356 8,000 60 100 40 30 8 15 2.5 35”

  • Specified — AF agriculture-forest district, West Pelzer town

    “af 43,560 1.000 43,560 200 none none 100 30 30 2.5 35”

• SetbacksSpecified

  R-1 district, West Pelzer town

  • Footnote (1): eight (8) foot side yard setback on one side, combined setback (both sides) of twenty (20) feet
  • Column reading inferred from flattened table

  front yard: >= 30 ft · side yard: >= 8 ft (one side; combined both sides 20 ft) · rear yard: >= 15 ft

  “r-1 20,000 2.178 20,000 75 110 35 30 (1) 15 2.5 35”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — R-2 district single-family subdistrict, West Pelzer town

    “r-2 8,000 4.356 8,000 60 100 40 30 8 15 2.5 35”

• Lot coverageSpecified

  R-1 (35%) and R-2 single-family (40%) districts, West Pelzer town

  • Column reading inferred from flattened table; table footnotes mention a possible increase from forty percent to fifty percent that was not resolved

  max building cover R-1: <= 35 percent · max building cover R-2 single-family: <= 40 percent (footnote allows increase in some cases)

  “r-1 20,000 2.178 20,000 75 110 35 30 (1) 15 2.5 35”

• Building heightSpecified

  R-1, R-2 and AF districts, West Pelzer town

  • Column reading inferred from flattened table; Section 5-4 height provisions not read

  max height: <= 2.5 stories · max height: <= 35 ft

  “r-2 8,000 4.356 8,000 60 100 40 30 8 15 2.5 35”

• Living in an RVLimited

  Recreational vehicles inside West Pelzer town

  • RV defined as not designed or intended as a permanent dwelling
  • RV parks and campgrounds are a conditional use in certain districts; no site may be a permanent residence
  • Time limits per town code of ordinances, not located

  “no site shall be used as a permanent residence and shall only be for the use of travel trailers, pickup campers, coaches, motor homes, camping trailers”

• Manufactured homesLimited

  Newly permitted or relocated manufactured homes in residential districts, West Pelzer town

  • Must bear the red HUD label
  • Subject to zoning administrator approval
  • Which districts allow them under the table of uses was not resolved

  “manufactured home design standards shall be applicable to all newly permitted or newly relocated manufactured homes in all residential zoning districts.”

• Building in a floodplainLimited

  Flood hazard areas inside West Pelzer town

  • Use of lots in flood hazard areas requires zoning administrator approval of required improvements
  • Section 6-4 contains further detail not fully read

  “the filling of public and/or private property within the flood hazard area is prohibited.”

• Permit processPartial

  Building permit applications inside West Pelzer town

  • Application forms (building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing) are posted but their contents were not opened

  “email permit applications to the following”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Town of West Pelzer or Anderson County directly.

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder exemption inside West Pelzer town
• Building code adopted — Building code inside West Pelzer town
• Inspections — Building inspections inside West Pelzer town
• Minimum dwelling size — Minimum dwelling size inside West Pelzer town
• Camping on your land — Temporary camping inside West Pelzer town

Each answer was extracted from an official source and independently re-checked against that source by a second reviewer. That is an evidence check, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the authority before you buy or build.