Royston Considers Yard Sale Ordinance

One thing people like to do on the weekends this time of year is go to yard sales or have yard sales.

But some people make having yard sales a daily business and that’s why the City of Royston is looking instituting a new yard sale ordinance.

At their city council meeting this week, councilman Larry Bowen said there needs to be an ordinance in place to protect citizens.

 “I want to discuss establishing a yard sale ordinance,” Bowen told the council. “I’ve had four citizens approach me in the last month and one was a business owner who said one particular person was running a business and not a yard sale.”

Mayor David Jordan agreed that there are those in the town who run regular so called yard sales, but are actually running a business.

Bowen said he asked Royston City Clerk Gloria Brown to do some research to find any ordinance on the books that addresses yard sales, but Brown said she could not find one.

“The only thing I found was some discussion about a yard sale in the minutes from 2002 but there was never any vote taken,” she said.

Councilman Lee Strickland said there was one years ago when he served a previous term.   City attorney Andrea Grant offered to research the matter further.

Royston Police Chief Donnie Boleman said sometimes yard sales pose a safety hazard for motorists and pedestrians trying to get to a sale.

The Council discussed limiting the number of yard sales a person can have a year and mandating people get a permit and pay a fee to have a yard sale.

After more discussion, the council directed staff to begin working on a yard sale ordinance but no vote was taken.