Politics & Government

Mentor Is Looking Into Placing Some Limits On Garage Sales

A proposed ordinance would limit how long and how often people could have garage sales in Mentor

Mentor City Council is considering an ordinance that would place some limits on garage sales in the city.

The legislation was first presented during the Council meeting Tuesday. If passed the ordinance would require people to:

  • get a permit to have a garage sale. The permit would be free and available online, Mentor City Manager Kenneth Filipiak said during the meeting.
  • have no more than two garage sales per year, which could last no longer than three consecutive days.
  • not hang or post signs advertising the garage sale on utility poles, traffic signs or in the public right of way.
  • not hold the garage sale before 9 a.m. or after to 7 p.m.
  • have "adequate traffic supervision" to prevent logjams.

Assistant City Manager Anthony Zampedro said the issue came up after Mentor residents complained to the Council members about neighbors who held perpetual garage sales.

Find out what's happening in Mentorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"There have been some complaints over the last few years where there seems to be a never-ending garage sale on a street," Zampedro said.

He added that the city needed a law on the books before they could discourage that behavior.

Find out what's happening in Mentorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We really aren't trying to put too great an onus on property owners," Zampedro said.

During the Council meeting, Ward 4 Councilman John Krueger asked why permits were necessary.

"There's got to ge a better way to do this than to make every person who wants to have a garage sale get a permit," he said.

Zampedro said, without some sort of permit, it would be difficult to tell how long a garage sale has been going on or how many the owner has had.

When the city administration said there would be no charge for the permit, At-Large Councilwoman Janet Dowling said, "We're not charging for the permit but there is a cost to the taxpayer because someone has to handle the permits."

Ward 2 Councilwoman Carolyn Bucey suggested they change the ordinance so owners could have three garage sales and they could last up to four days.

Council did not vote on the ordinance Tuesday. Instead, they will revisit the matter during their Sept. 4 meeting.

"Council is the body that will decide how important this issue is," Zampedro said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Mentor