Kingsport, TN Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency, Duration & Permits (2026)

Kingsport Code § 114-142, in the zoning chapter adopted by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, treats the yard or garage sale as a permitted use inside a residential zone, with four conditions. First, the count: sales cannot exceed two per year. Second, the length: each sale cannot exceed three consecutive days. Third, the location: sales must be held on the property of the resident, so a neighbor's driveway or a vacant lot does not qualify. Fourth, the inventory: sale items must consist only of used personal property of the resident.

The last condition draws the line between a household sale and a retail business. The section says the sale shall not be used for retailing items purchased from others for resale purposes. A seller who buys goods at auctions or estate sales to stock a Kingsport driveway sale is outside the rule, however few days the sale runs.

The section as printed sets no permit, fee or sign provision, so the limits above are the whole of the zoning rule. Neighbors and the City of Kingsport read the two-per-year count by calendar year of sales at the same residence, and each sale is measured by consecutive days, so a sale that stops for a day and restarts is still measured from its first day.

The limit sits inside the wider use rules of Chapter 114. Sec. 114-131(5) provides that only uses specifically permitted, or substantially similar to permitted uses, are permitted in each zone, and that prohibited uses are prohibited. A third sale in the same year, or a sale of goods bought for resale, is not a use Sec. 114-142 permits. Home occupations in the A-1 district are capped by Sec. 181 at 25 percent of floor space and one nonresident employee, and a recurring sales operation does not fit within that either.