City Watch
Short-term rental rules in Pawleys Island, SC
How Pawleys Island regulates short-term rentals: the rules that apply, their sources, and pending changes.
Short-term rentals here are subject to registration, a lodging tax, or a small number of operating rules.
- No STR-specific license, registration, or permit process in force
- Town has no general business license at all (still only under consideration as of March 2026)
- Only municipal layer touching STRs is the local accommodations tax on transient rentals
- No cap, no owner-occupancy, no host-present, no minimum-stay, no residential-zone STR exclusion found
- Only STR prohibition ever adopted was a temporary 2020 COVID emergency ordinance that expired May 2020
Based on: No in-force STR-specific ordinance. Only STR measure ever adopted was emergency Ordinance 2020-02 (COVID-19), a
Summary of the rule
SHORT-TERM RENTALS PROHIBITED IN THE TOWN OF PAWLEYS ISLAND FROM 5:00 PM MARCH 28 THROUGH APRIL 30 (emergency Ordinance 2020-02, COVID-19; later extended through May 14, 2020) -- a temporary emergency measure, now expired; no permanent STR prohibition or STR-specific ordinance is in force.
View the ordinance source ↗✓ Verified
Last reviewed Sep 14, 2026 · Sources · Report an error
Pending legislation
Monitoring Pawleys Island · system last checked Oct 25, 2026
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City Watch tracks changes from public sources — council agendas, state bills, local news — not a complete legal compendium.
A city permit is not the whole picture — HOA, condominium, deed, or lease rules may be stricter.
City Watch provides good-faith summaries of publicly available information as of the review date shown. Rules, enforcement, and permit availability can change, and summaries may contain errors or omissions. Ratings describe the general regulatory environment; they do not establish whether a particular property or stay is permitted. This is general information, not legal advice. Before buying, listing, or hosting, verify applicable requirements with the responsible authorities and review any HOA, condominium, deed, or lease restrictions.