Redding, CA Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency Limits (2026)

Redding's frequency rule is unusually explicit. Section 18.17.020(D) of the Zoning Ordinance at https://files.cityofredding.gov/Document%20Center/Departments/Development%20Services/Planning/Zoning%20Ordinance/Chapter%2018.17%20Temporary%20Use%20Permits.pdf provides that 'Three (3) garage or yard sales in any twelve-month period, not exceeding three (3) consecutive days each, shall be deemed a use incidental to the residential use of a property. Garage or yard sales in excess of this limit shall be prohibited in all residential zones.' The 'shall be prohibited' language is unusually strict — most California cities treat repeated sales as triggering a permit requirement rather than as outright prohibited, but Redding ends the matter at three. Section 18.17.030 (Temporary Uses Requiring Permits) confirms the boundary: subsection (A) lists rummage sales, secondhand sales, and swap meets as uses that may be permitted in commercial zones with a temporary use permit, with the time limits in subsection (E)(2) capping outdoor concerts, flea markets, rummage sales, secondhand sales, and swap meets at four (4) calendar days per event. Residential garage sales above the three-per-year cap have no corresponding temporary-use permit path on residential property. Practical implications: (1) plan your three sale dates carefully — there is no application process to add a fourth; (2) you cannot rotate sales among adjacent properties under the same household; (3) sales 'co-hosted' across multiple neighbors should each count once per host parcel; and (4) repeated yard sales that look like a continuing retail business can also trigger Redding business-license requirements through the City Finance Department, and California Revenue & Taxation Code Section 6006.5 (https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC&sectionNum=6006.5.) only exempts up to two non-business sales per twelve months from California sales-tax registration. The general nuisance authority under RMC Chapter 1.13 also reaches sales that create traffic, parking, or trash impacts on neighbors regardless of count.