Golf cart pads, paths and South Carolina's cart laws
Half the houses on the Strand have a cart. Here's what the state lets you do with it, where the City of Myrtle Beach says you can't, and how to build the pad and path so the cart stops living on the lawn.
The law
South Carolina Code 56-2-105 is the whole rulebook. To drive a golf cart on a public road you need a cart permit from the SCDMV — $5, with proof of ownership and liability insurance, renewed every five years — and then: you may drive it within four miles of the address on the permit, during daylight hours only, on roads posted at 35 mph or less, and you may cross a higher-speed road at an intersection. The driver has to be at least sixteen with a valid license. Gated communities can set their own internal rules, and towns can be stricter. The City of Myrtle Beach is: carts are not allowed on the city's multipurpose paths or sidewalks, and the city publishes its own cart page saying so. North Myrtle Beach, Surfside and the county follow the state rule, with Surfside and Garden City's 35-mph grids among the most cart-friendly on the coast.
Where the cart lives
The law doesn't say, and that's the problem the pad solves. A cart on the lawn kills the grass and sinks a wheel the first wet week; a cart in the garage takes the second car's spot; a cart on the driveway blocks the car it was supposed to free up. A pad beside the driveway, tied into it, with a short path to the street or the community's cart trail, is the standard Grand Strand answer, and it doubles as the extra rental parking space North Myrtle Beach requires to be fully on the lot.
How we build one
- Size: six by twelve feet fits a standard two-seat cart with room to walk around it; eight by fourteen fits a lifted six-seater or a compact car.
- Slab: four inches of fiber-reinforced, air-entrained concrete on a compacted base, broom-finished for grip, sloped to drain; five or six inches if a car will ever park there.
- Tie-in: doweled into the existing driveway so the two move together and the joint doesn't open; finish matched, or a stamped border to match a decorative drive.
- Path: four feet wide, four inches thick, same base, with the grade eased at the curb or the trail so the cart doesn't bottom out.
- Charger: a conduit sleeve under the pad for an outlet by the cart, wired by an electrician.
- The city width rule: inside Myrtle Beach the apron can't exceed twenty feet at the property line, so a pad that extends the drive flares out behind the sidewalk rather than at the street.
What the HOA wants
Nearly every planned community on the Strand reviews new concrete, and cart pads are the most common application they see. The Farm at Carolina Forest wants a surveyor's plat; Barefoot, Grande Dunes, Prince Creek, Wachesaw, the Market Common neighborhoods and most of Carolina Forest want a site plan showing the pad's size and distance from the lines, the finish, and sometimes a photo of a matching pad on the street. Some limit pads to the side of the house or behind the front building line. We prepare the drawing; approvals typically take two to four weeks.
What it costs
A standard 6-by-12 pad runs $700–$1,500; an 8-by-14, $1,000–$2,000; a path to the street $28–$45 per linear foot; the pad-plus-30-foot-path package most people order, $1,800–$3,200; a stamped border to match the drive, $300–$900 more. See golf cart pads and paths.
Common questions
Can I drive my cart to the beach in Myrtle Beach?
On 35-mph streets within four miles of home in daylight with a permit, yes — but not on the city's multipurpose paths or sidewalks, and not across Kings Highway except at an intersection. Ocean Boulevard's posted speed varies; check the signs.
Do I need a permit for the pad?
On your own lot in the county, no. Inside the city, only if it touches the right-of-way. The HOA is the approval that matters, and we draw it for them.
Can the pad hold a car too?
At five or six inches with rebar, yes — an 8-by-14 pad is a compact car's space, and for rental licenses it counts as parking on the lot.
How thick for a lifted cart?
Four inches is plenty for any cart; the extra thickness is for cars and trailers, not carts.
Related: Golf cart pads & paths · Market Common · North Myrtle Beach · Driveway cost