Yard-sale sign issue resolved with new Gentry ordinance

— Issues regarding yard sales and yard- and garage-sale signs were resolved by the city council on Monday with the passage of a new version of an ordinance amending city code.

With rules suspended, the amending ordinance was passed on three readings with a single vote by the “yes” vote of all council members present at Monday night’s meeting - Alderman Kyle Jordan was absent.

The new ordinance, which will go into effect after publication, still requires permits for sales within the city and limits the length of sales to four days and the number ofsales per year to four. The permit fee for each sale, however, was set at $5.

The new law relaxes restrictions on the posting of yard-sale signs, allowing them to be placed on city right-of-way property and city-owned property but only on the actual dates of the sale. The owner must also include his or her name and address on the signs for them to be legal.

Signs may also be posted on private property but only with the written permission of the property owners.

The law does not relax current restrictions - some of which are state law - against posting signs on state highway right of ways (including those state highways and spurs in Gentry’s downtown andresidential areas), on public utility poles or street signs or any plant, tree or shrub located in the right of way of any public road, street or highway.

The newly-adopted ordinance also sets limits for the sale signs to 6 square feet, specifies posts may not be taller than 48 inches from the ground and prohibits the use of “T” posts. It also prohibits affixing the signs to public buildings, fences or other improvements.

All yard-sale signs must be removed no later than midnight on the day the sale ends.

Signs posted contrary to the ordinance or left out after midnight on the final day of the sales will be picked up and sign owners will be issued a noticeto appear in court for the violation.

The council has been working on the amending ordinance for some time because of violators who put up signs and fail to remove them following the sales and because city code and state law left almost no place signs could be posted. Allowing the signs on city right of ways makes it much easier for residents to legally advertise their garage and yard sales.

A similar amending ordinance was passed on its first reading at the council’s June meeting, but it failed to set a size limit for signs or to restrict posting the signs on public buildings and fences. The new ordinance passed Monday replaced the previous version which still lacked two readings.

News, Pages 9 on 07/13/2011