City permit required for yard sales

By Staff
Tracy B. Cieniewicz, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle residents holding yard sales must also hold a city yard sale permit to avoid being hit with a hefty fine.
The city requires residents holding a yard sale to purchase a $5 permit. The permit can be purchased at city hall during regular business hours, Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Permits can be purchased well in advance of the sale date, but must be purchased by the sale date.
The fine for holding a yard sale without a permit is $25–$5 for the permit and $20 in administrative fees. In 2005, yard sale permits brought approximately $3,675 to the city.
City ordinances prohibit anyone from holding a yard or garage sale for more than three consecutive days. The ordinance also prohibits anyone from holding more than two sales at the same location in the same calendar year.
Other regulations covering yard sales include:
A permit is required for all garage sales and each garage sale a resident holds.
The permit must be obtained from city hall and must be displayed during the yard sale where it is visible from the street.
The yard sale must be set up so as not to block lanes and to provide for off-street parking.
Advertisements can't be displayed on utility poles or on rights- of-way or medians.
A city yard sale permit is non-transferable, meaning you can't give your permit to someone else or use it on a date other than the one it was sold for. If it rains on the day your permitted yard sale is planned, you have to purchase another permit.