Laredo, TX Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

1 draws the line for junk and secondhand dealers at three items: any business where three or more junked items or used appliances sit, temporarily or permanently, for any purpose must obtain a special use permit granted by the City Council before it can operate, and both new operators and legal non-conforming businesses already on site must meet the section's standards. The rule exempts inventory kept fully inside an enclosed building and any yard located in the M-2 Heavy Industrial District. 2. Where that fence line abuts residential property, no junked item or used appliance can sit closer than 20 feet to the property line; where the yard fronts an arterial street, the fence must be set back 20 feet from the property line or match the average building setback on adjoining lots.

Yards must be secured against unauthorized entry outside business hours, and any yard within 1,000 feet of a state primary highway needs a fence at least as tall as the accumulated junk pile, set back 20 feet from the property line. Storage or display of junk, salvage or used appliances outside the fenced area is flatly prohibited, and everything inside must stay arranged for inspection access by City fire, health, police and building officials, with latches and doors removed from stored refrigerators and freezers and flammable liquids drained from wrecked vehicles.