Allentown, PA Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency, Duration & Permits (2026)

Section 660-57.A of the Zoning Ordinance (Ord. No. 16166, effective January 1, 2026) governs temporary yard sales at properties used for principal residential purposes. The code folds every informal sale into one regulated category: yard sales are sometimes referred to as garage sales, estate sales, moving sales, occasional sales, and other similar names, and all such sales, by whatever name, are classified and regulated as yard sales under this subsection. Whatever a resident calls the event, the same limits apply.

The frequency cap is explicit: yard sales at properties occupied by principal residential uses are limited to four per calendar year, and each such yard sale is limited in time to no more than the daylight hours of three consecutive days. A homeowner cannot stretch a single sale past three straight days of daylight hours, and cannot host a fifth sale once four have already run in the same calendar year.

Signage is tied to the same subsection. No sale sign or other advertisement may go up more than 24 hours before the sale starts, and every sign must come down immediately once the sale ends, so a resident cannot use permanent yard-sale signage to advertise sales generically or leave signs posted between events. Unlike some of the City's temporary-use permits, § 660-57.A yard sales do not require the Zoning Officer to issue a permit before each sale, so compliance is checked against the calendar and day limits set in the code rather than through a prior approval step.