Start with the road
Horry County is a patchwork. The county maintains 1,425 miles of its own roads, 677 paved and 748 unpaved; SCDOT maintains about 1,350 miles of state and secondary routes plus 223 miles of US highways through the county; and the cities — Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Conway, Surfside Beach, Atlantic Beach, Loris, Aynor — own the streets inside their limits. A driveway apron is permitted and inspected by whichever of them owns the pavement in front of your house, and a single subdivision can sit on a county street that feeds a state highway a block from a city line. The quick tells: curb, gutter and sidewalk usually mean a city street; a roadside ditch means county or state; the numbered routes — US 17 and the Bypass, US 501, US 701, SC 544, SC 31, SC 22, SC 9, SC 90, SC 905, SC 707 — are SCDOT's. We confirm the owner from the parcel before we quote.
City of Myrtle Beach
Construction Services (843-918-1111) issues the apron permit, and the city publishes its spec in a one-page "Residential Driveway Installation Requirements": it's unlawful to build a driveway entrance in a street or public way without a permit; the apron is six inches thick, 3,000 psi, with fiber mesh only — no steel or welded wire; five-foot return radii; a residential driveway no wider than twenty feet at the property line; no driveway within five feet of a side property line or within twenty feet of a property line at an intersection; an expansion joint at the property line; a form inspection before the pour and a final inspection after; and a tie-in that "shall not alter storm water flow." Contractors need a city business license and the state's residential license. Public sidewalk panels and curb cuts affected by the apron are replaced to the city's standard under the same permit.
Horry County (unincorporated)
Two offices, two rules. Code Enforcement (843-915-5090) exempts driveways and sidewalks not more than thirty inches above grade from a building permit — so the driveway on your lot needs none. Engineering (843-915-5160, encroachment@horrycountysc.gov) issues the Encroachment Permit for anything in a county right-of-way: a driveway apron, a pipe, a culvert. It's free, it requires 72 hours' notice before work starts, it expires six months after approval, and its conditions are specific: driveway concrete a minimum of four inches thick for single-family residential and six for everything else, expansion joints twelve inches on either side of the pipe, underground lines at least 36 inches deep and three feet from the pavement edge, a one-year warranty, and work to SCDOT's standard specifications. The county's stormwater ordinance adds the rule that no owner may obstruct or alter a ditch, channel or swale to another owner's detriment — which is why the pipe has to be sized to the ditch. Stormwater's own hotline is 843-381-8000.
SCDOT
On a state route the apron needs an SCDOT encroachment permit, filed online through the department's permit system, with no fee, and built to the state's driveway standards. It takes longer than the county's — a week or two is typical — and the state is particular about sight distance and drainage at the road.
The other towns
- North Myrtle Beach — Planning and Development (843-280-5560) has its own encroachment permit form, requires a local permit for all floodplain development, and its stormwater ordinance exempts a single-family lot only when the project doesn't move more than eight inches of soil; altering existing drainage needs approval.
- Conway — Construction Services, 196 Laurel Street (843-488-9888), permits aprons on city streets.
- Surfside Beach — Planning, Building and Zoning (843-913-6341); its application records the flood zone, BFE and setbacks.
- Town of Pawleys Island — Town Hall (843-237-1698), inspections through SAFEbuilt; creek-side and ocean-side work goes to DHEC OCRM.
- Georgetown County (Murrells Inlet south of the line, Litchfield, DeBordieu) — Building Department, 843-545-3116.
And the HOA
None of the above replaces the architectural committee. The Farm at Carolina Forest requires a surveyor's plat with every application; Barefoot's committee reviews driveway replacements and widenings case by case; Grande Dunes, Prince Creek, Wachesaw and most gated communities want a site plan and a finish that matches. We prepare the package; the approval is the owner's to obtain, and we schedule the pour behind it.
Common questions
What happens if I pour an apron without a permit?
Inside the city it's a code violation and the apron can be ordered removed if it doesn't meet spec; in the county the encroachment permit is free, so there's no reason to skip it, and an unpermitted pipe that floods a neighbor is yours to fix. We don't order the truck until the permit's in hand.
Can I widen my driveway inside the city?
On your lot, yes. At the property line the apron can't exceed twenty feet wide or sit within twenty feet of a corner, so wide drives flare out behind the sidewalk. The twenty-foot limit is measured at the line, not at the garage.
Who's responsible for the culvert under my county driveway?
You are — the pipe serves your driveway, and the county's stormwater ordinance makes blocking the ditch your problem. The county won't replace a private driveway pipe; we do, under the free encroachment permit.
Do I need a permit for a patio or a cart pad?
Not on your lot in the county — at-grade slabs are exempt from a building permit. A covered structure, a shed over 200 square feet or anything in a flood zone with fill is different, and HOAs review it all.
Related: Aprons & encroachment permits · Concrete driveways · North Myrtle Beach · Flood zones & concrete