Santa Cruz County, CA Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency, Duration & Permits (2026)

616 governs temporary uses and structures across every zone district in unincorporated Santa Cruz County. Subsection (D) lists uses exempt from the temporary permit process entirely, and item (4) puts garage and yard sales in that exempt category as long as they don't exceed four weekends a year and take place on a lot with a legal residential use already on it, meaning no permit, zoning clearance, or advance County approval is required to hold up to four weekends of sales annually. 10 SCCC. The exemption is written for garage and yard sales specifically, so it does not extend to a resident running a recurring, for-profit sales operation out of the same residential lot; a use that looks more like a continuous retail activity than an occasional garage sale can be treated as an unpermitted home occupation or temporary use requiring the permit process in subsection (C).

616 also exempts other short, low-impact uses from the permit requirement, such as temporary uses conducted entirely within a building for which County permits are already in place and uses already covered by an existing use permit, showing the exemption list is meant for occasional, small-scale activity rather than ongoing commercial operations.