Is your garage sale sign legal?
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Don Smith holds up a couple of colourful hats he was selling at his garage sale on Dunham Close.
’Tis the season for the annual treasure hunt through the unwanted belongings of others.
It’s garage sale time.
But starting this year, the city has new restrictions on how, where and for how long garage sale signs can be used.
Paul Meyette, manager of the city Inspections and Licensing Department, said the land-use bylaw was amended in January to clear up confusion over whether posting a garage sale sign required a permit.
“The bylaw wasn’t clear, it could be read either way, so we thought we would clear it up,” he said.
Under the amendment, a permit is not required for garage sale signs as long as they meet four criteria.
Each sale is limited to no more than three signs and each sign can be no larger than 1.4 metres square.
The signs can only go up 24 hours prior to a sale and must be taken down 24 hours after the sale ends.
Signs also can only be posted in the neighbourhood around the sale.
Meyette said in past years the city has received complaints about signs “as large as small billboards . . . about two metres by two metres.
“Those kind of things are distracting and have the potential of blocking other more important signs,” he said.
Donald Smith said he got a steady stream of visitors to his garage sale on Friday using a newspaper ad and two small signs.
“I had no idea there were rules like that,” he said. “That’s a surprise.”
In his 45 years living in Red Deer, Smith said he has never had a problem with the way people advertise their sales.
The fine for a first offence under the bylaw is $100, a second offence is $250 and a third is $500.
But Meyette believes the number of tickets handed out will be minimal.
“Tickets are usually a last resort,” he said, “I think it’s more likely that officers will just remind people about the bylaw, unless it becomes a repeat problem.”
Contact Ashley Joannou at ajoannou@reddeeradvocate.com
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