Santa Ana OKs Ordinance to Limit Garage Sales

The City Council approved an ordinance Monday night that would limit households to two garage sales a year.

In a unanimous vote, the council agreed to regulate garage sales in the city and drop a 1960 law, which had previously prohibited all types of sales from residential households.

Despite the 1960 law, City Manager David N. Ream said, garage sales have thrived in Santa Ana. City officials say garage sales have gone slightly awry in neighborhoods where some residents have been illegally using their garages as retail outlets.

Merchandise--some of which is stolen or was just recently purchased from local thrift and outlet stores--have been sold for profits in these garage-type businesses, city officials said.

The new law prohibits these businesses from operating, Ream said. And the ordinance would also mandate that only household items can be sold.

In a staff report to the City Council, Planning Department staff member Steve Crawford describes garage sales as being “part of the American experience.”

The report says that garage sales have positive benefits for Santa Ana, including giving residents a chance to “spring clean” and help the environment at the same time.

“From an environmental standpoint, a garage sale provides the vehicle wherein the life of durable goods is extended, rather than the goods being relegated to a landfill,” the report says.

The new law will limit the hours of a garage sale from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and to no more than three consecutive days. Households also cannot conduct the sales onpublic sidewalks, parkways, or alleys. And displays for the garage sales cannot be posted on telephone poles, street lights or traffic signs.

In Ventura County, a Moorpark city ordinance limits garage and home boutique sales to three a year and prohibits residents’ displaying sale items on front lawns. Moorpark adopted the ordinance after residents complained that signs to advertise home boutique sales littered lawns during the holiday season.