Carver County, MN Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency, Duration & Permits (2026)

073(O) of the Carver County Code of Ordinances lists yard and garage sales as a permitted accessory use in the "A" Agriculture District, the zoning that covers most of the unincorporated township land outside the county's cities, but caps them at three sales per calendar year per property. The same subsection separately prohibits "the continuous display and offering for sale of items acquired from others specifically for resale," which targets ongoing secondhand-resale operations disguised as yard sales rather than residents clearing out their own belongings.

010) defines a GARAGE SALE as any display of used goods or salesman samples sold on a property customarily used as a residence, with the sale conducted by residents of that property, meaning the seller has to actually live at the address where the sale is held. The county's Land Management Department administers zoning compliance under Chapter 152, and accessory uses like garage sales do not require a separate permit or fee as long as they fit within these limits; exceeding three sales a year or running a continuous resale table converts the activity into a use that is no longer permitted as-of-right in the district.

Because Carver County's zoning authority under Minnesota law reaches only unincorporated area and townships, this three-per-year cap applies on unincorporated land; cities within the county's borders, such as Chaska, Chanhassen, or Waconia, set their own separate limits under their own municipal codes and are not governed by this county provision.