Twin Falls County, ID Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Twin Falls County does not treat secondhand and salvage goods sales as an ordinary retail use. County Code section 8-6E-3 places 'Sale of secondhand and salvage goods' on the list of conditional uses for the Commercial Zone (C), meaning the Planning and Zoning Commission must first grant approval after a formal, previously advertised public hearing. The section directs the Commission to approve an application only if it finds the use appropriate for the proposed location and finds it will not adversely affect adjoining developed land; the Commission can attach conditions covering special or additional sanitation facilities, landscaping, recreation facilities, reduced density, maintenance standards or parking.

The application itself runs through the general permit process at section 8-3-4, filed with the Planning and Zoning Department with a plat showing the building's size and location, the zoning district and proof of ownership, plus a processing fee the Board of County Commissioners may set under section 8-3-5. Section 8-2-2's definition of 'Salvage Yard' draws the line the county is working from: a salvage yard is a place that buys, sells, exchanges, bales, packs, disassembles, handles or stores scrap, waste, discarded or salvaged materials, but the definition expressly excludes pawnshops and dealers in used furniture, household equipment or operable used cars from that category, which is why those narrower secondhand activities still need Commission review under the separate conditional use rather than being banned outright as a salvage yard.

The current version of section 8-6E-3 took effect August 26, 2026, under Ordinance 295, replacing the 1998 Ordinance 21 text but keeping secondhand and salvage sales on the conditional use list.