Driveway permits in Summerville — Town, county or SCDOT?
Summerville's streets belong to four different road authorities, and the apron into each one has its own permit, fee and spec. Here's who owns what, what each one wants, and the sequencing rule that holds up more building permits than anything else.
The table
| Road authority | Where | Permit and fee | What they want |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town of Summerville | Town-maintained streets and Town drainage easements | Encroachment Permit, $25 (Engineering fees rev. July 2026) | UDO §7.7 driveway approval; curb cut ≤ 12 ft on lots under ½ acre, flare to 20 ft at the garage, ≤ ⅓ lot width; ≥ 5 ft from side line, ≥ 25 ft from another cut; 1 cut per ≤ 50 ft frontage, 2 for 50–150; 15×15 sight triangle |
| Dorchester County | County-maintained roads (Knightsville, Ashborough side, rural west) | Encroachment permit, free (Public Works 843-832-0070) | Pipe sized and set for the ditch; "driveways and fences" prohibited in easements |
| Berkeley County | Nexton, Cane Bay, Carnes Crossroads (county side), Sangaree, Moncks Corner | Encroachment permit, free, valid 12 months (Roads & Bridges 843-719-4129); contractor permit authorization card $25/yr | On swale streets the pipe goes in at the ditch flow-line invert before any construction; the county has installed driveways off its own roads |
| SCDOT | US 17-A (Main St), US 78, SC 642 (Dorchester Rd), SC 165 (Bacons Bridge Rd), SC 61, US 176, US 52 | Encroachment permit, free, via EPPS (855-467-2368) | ARMS: low-volume driveway 10–24 ft wide, 15-ft min radius returns, grade within ±8% for 40 ft, 4:1 side slopes, standard drawings 720-405/410/415, final inspection → letter of acceptance |
| City of Goose Creek | Inside Goose Creek city limits | City building permit (843-553-8350) | Corner-lot driveways ≥ 40 ft from the property-line intersection; foundation inspection before concrete |
| City of North Charleston | Ladson/Charleston County portions inside city limits | Encroachment permit (Public Works 843-745-1026) | SCDOT Street Finder decides jurisdiction |
Step one: whose road is it?
SCDOT's Street Finder says whether a street is state-maintained; the county GIS and the Town's street list cover the rest. It isn't always obvious — Dorchester County maintains 1,400-odd miles of road, some of them inside the Town; Nexton and Cane Bay are Berkeley County with Summerville addresses; Carnes Crossroads is split between Berkeley County, the City of Goose Creek and the Town; Ladson is three counties. We check the parcel before anything is drawn, because the permit office, the fee, the spec and the flood map all change at the line.
Step two: the Town's driveway rules (inside the Town)
Summerville's Unified Development Ordinance (adopted October 2019, amended July 2026), Section 7.7, requires every new driveway to be approved by the Town, Berkeley, Dorchester or Charleston County, or SCDOT, and Town-right-of-way driveways to go through the Encroachment Permit. On lots under half an acre: a lot 60 feet wide or less gets one driveway no wider than 12 feet; a wider lot gets a curb cut of 12 feet that may flare to 20 feet at the garage but never more than a third of the lot width; alley-loaded lots must park on pervious surfaces. Frontage up to 50 feet gets one curb cut, 50 to 150 gets two; a driveway sits at least five feet from the side property line and 25 feet from another curb cut on a local street, with a 15-by-15-foot sight triangle at the street. Separately, the UDO counts 'all paved surfaces' toward impervious lot coverage — 30 percent in GR-2 and GR-3, 35 in GR-5, 50 in N-R — and excludes pervious pavement; see the coverage guide.
Step three: the sequencing rule
The Town's Plot Plan Checklist (revised January 2022) says it plainly: 'For new driveways on SCDOT or County maintained roadways, a copy of the approved encroachment permit must be provided before issuance of building permit.' On a new house or a major addition, the apron permit from the county or the state is the first permit, not the last. The checklist also wants the plot plan to show existing and proposed paved areas, driveway pipes, curb inlets, manholes and swales, pervious and impervious percentages, the house pad 18 inches above the back of curb with six inches of fall in the first ten feet, and trees eight inches and over. The Town's Building Department notes that structures cannot be placed within any easement; Summerville CPW's sewer easements are ten feet each side of the pipe; Dorchester County prohibits driveways in easements outright.
Step four: the specs
SCDOT's Access and Roadside Management Standards govern the state routes: a residential driveway 10 to 24 feet wide, radius returns of at least 15 feet, the grade within plus or minus eight percent for the first 40 feet off the shoulder, four-to-one side slopes on the pipe ends, the standard drawings 720-405, -410 and -415, and a final inspection that produces a letter of acceptance for your file. Lots with less than 50 feet of frontage get access only by special consideration. Berkeley County's rule on swale streets is that the pipe goes in at the ditch invert before any construction — the county has made contractors pull aprons that didn't. Dorchester County wants the pipe sized for the ditch and nothing that alters the stormwater flow. Goose Creek's corner-lot rule is 40 feet from the intersection. And every authority wants the apron not to change how the water moves along the road, which is what a crushed, undersized or silted culvert does — and why Debby took so many of them in August 2024.
Who pays and who maintains
The Town's encroachment permit is $25; the county and SCDOT permits are free. An apron and pipe in a county or state right-of-way remain the homeowner's responsibility afterward — that's what the permit says — though Berkeley County has in the past installed driveway pipes off its own roads, so it's worth asking. An unpermitted apron is a problem at inspection, at the next flood, and at sale, when the title search turns it up. The permit is free; the work isn't; there's no reason to skip it.
Common questions
Does a driveway replacement need a permit, or only a new one?
The apron part does, from the road authority, whenever it's replaced. The Town also checks that a replacement inside the Town meets the current curb-cut and coverage rules, even if the original exceeded them.
What if my driveway is on a private HOA road?
Then the HOA is the road authority for the apron and the Town or county still permits anything that's a structure. Nexton, Cane Bay and Carnes Crossroads have ARB rules for width and material on top of that.
How long does a SCDOT permit take?
Through EPPS, typically one to three weeks for a residential driveway, with a final inspection afterward. The county permits are similar. We file them as the first step so the building permit isn't waiting.
Can I widen the curb cut past 12 feet?
Not on a lot under half an acre inside the Town — the UDO allows the flare to 20 feet at the garage, not at the street. A second pervious strip inside the lot is the usual answer for a third car.
Related: Aprons & encroachment permits · Concrete driveways · Lot coverage guide · Cost guide