by Nicole Bradford
Pearland residents who collaborate with neighbors may soon have an easier time holding garage sales.
Proposed changes to a city ordinance regarding garage sales include allowing neighborhood sales without each sale being individually permitted.
“I would certainly encourage if you’re going to have neighbors together and all have garage sales the same day,” Mayor Kevin Cole said during a January discussion. “Everybody get it done at once.”
The city requires all garage sales to be permitted and issues about 1,700 such permits annually.
The proposed revision to the ordinance results from a September workshop covering signage and possible deposits.
“We came to a good consensus to resolve the neighborhood situation by proposing to eliminate the individual permitting and allow the neighborhood to come pull a permit and let us know who’s going to be a part of that effort,” City Manager Trent Epperson said. “And not count that against the two garage sales that are allowed by individuals per year.”
Also part of the conversation were options of changing the garage sale sign process — or eliminating the need to get permits for garage sales altogether. The majority of the council leaned toward keeping the permit requirement, along with a maximum allowed two sales per year.
City staff took the input from the council and will bring the proposed changes back for approval.
“Part of the reason this was put in place was to protect the integrity of the neighborhood,” Cole said, recalling cases in which a few homeowners held sales three days out of every week. “I just don’t see (the garage sale permitting system) broken. I think the system we have in place works. When you do come in and register, it goes up on our website and we promote it.”
Another reason, city staff said, is to prevent a proliferation of garage sale signs.
Pointing out that volunteers and staff remove signs that are not for upcoming and valid sales, Councilman Adrian Hernandez said he felt permitting each sale is “more of a burden than anything else.”
“We already have rules that govern where you can put signs and where you can’t,” he said.
