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Council adopts ordinance defining and regulating garage and estate sales
Summary
The St. Clair Shores City Council voted to move garage-sale rules from the sign code into chapter 10 (business and licensing), adding a clear definition that explicitly covers estate sales, preserves the three-sales-per-year limit (each up to three days), keeps the $5 permit fee, and makes repeated violations civil infractions.
The St. Clair Shores City Council on May 18 voted to amend city code to create a standalone garage-sale ordinance that clarifies definitions and enforcement for garage and estate sales. Denise Pike, community development and inspections director, told the council the change moves regulation out of the sign ordinance and into chapter 10 so enforcement and wording are clearer.
The ordinance defines “garage sale” to explicitly include estate sales and keeps the existing limit of three separate garage-sale events per calendar year for a single residence; each event may last up to three days. Pike said neighborhood or citywide sales can be handled through permit listings: if five or more residences participate, the application may list each address but a single neighborhood application and fee approach applies per the ordinance language.
Councilmember Burgess, who moved the amendment, said the change is targeted at a small number of properties that have effectively run continuous, commercial-style sales. Councilmembers asked how the three-event limit is tracked and enforced; Pike replied that permits are required for each event and that violations would be processed as civil infractions. She also said the city attorney reviewed the ordinance and no change to the previously adopted $5 garage-sale permit fee is proposed.
Supporters and several councilmembers said most residents will not be affected by the change, but the clarified definition will reduce “game playing” where properties repeatedly claim events are estate or rummage sales. The amendment was moved by Councilmember Burgess and supported by Councilmember Rebello; the council voted aye and the ordinance amendment passed.
The ordinance moves the garage-sale rules out of the city’s sign chapter and into chapter 10 (business and licensing) as a distinct article governing permits, definitions, and penalties. The council did not specify an effective date in the meeting record; staff indicated public outreach and notification about the definitional change would follow so hosts (especially estate-sale organizers) understand the requirements.
