Chesapeake, VA Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency, Duration & Permits (2026)

Chesapeake City Code Sec. 58-28 sets the operating rules for every garage sale in the city, defined by Sec. 58-26 as any sale run out of a single-family, two-family or multiple-family dwelling lasting two hours or more. Subsection (2) caps the frequency at no more than two garage sales at the same location within any rolling 12-month period; holding a third or later sale at that address within the year is treated as prima facie evidence that the property is actually operating a business, which pulls it into the Chesapeake Zoning Ordinance and requires a business license under Chapter 18.

Subsection (3) separately caps the duration of any single sale at three consecutive days. Subsection (1) bars parking on any main thoroughfare where a sale is being conducted, and subsection (4) requires that any sign for the sale comply with the sign standards in the Chesapeake Zoning Ordinance rather than being posted freely. There is no permit or registration requirement for an individual garage sale that stays within these limits; the former permit requirement under old Sec. 58-27 was repealed in 2011 (Ord. No. 11-O-119), leaving the frequency and duration caps as the only substantive controls left. Any violation of the article is a Class 3 misdemeanor under Sec. 58-29.