ANAHEIM : City Council Balks at Yard Sale Restrictions

City officials this week backed away from drafting an ordinance that would place restrictions on yard sales throughout the city.

Councilman Frank Feldhaus, who complained that the sales are blighting parts of the city, last month asked the city staff to research possible restrictions. But the idea appears to have little support.

“Cities that had been involved in adopting an ordinance ran into rather heated discussions in the community,” City Atty. Jack L. White said during a presentation to the council. “We could well expect that we would run into the same type of polarization.”

Feldhaus favored either designating certain days during the year for the sales, allowing only a certain number of sales per address or requiring people to get a low-cost permit to have a sale.

White said enforcing such an ordinance would also require changes in the staffing and operation of the city’s code enforcement division because most sales occur on weekends, when fewer code enforcement officers are on duty.

But council members and city staff agreed that something needs to be done about the estimated 200 yard sales that occur on an average weekend. City officials said many of the sales have become increasingly commercial with new merchandise being sold.

“Something needs to be done to keep the city cleaned up,” Feldhaus said. “I’ve received enough comments and complaints where it’s at a point where we need to do something.”

The sales are already prohibited under Anaheim’s zoning code, but the code is rarely enforced, said John Poole, city code enforcement manager.