Beaufort County, SC Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency, Duration & Permits (2026)

Table 4.3.20.A of the Beaufort County Community Development Code lists Garage and/or Yard Sales as a temporary use with an allowable time frame of 14 total days per calendar year, per parcel. The Specific Regulations column reads No Permit Required, so a resident does not apply to the Director for a temporary use permit before holding a sale. The limit is counted by parcel rather than by person, and by calendar year rather than a rolling twelve months. Because the table says 14 total days, a parcel can spread them across several weekends or use them back to back, and a two-day weekend sale uses two of the 14.

No permit does not mean no rules. Section 4.3.50(B) says all temporary uses, even those requiring no temporary use permit, remain subject to the County Code of Ordinances provisions on business licenses, vendor permits and other County requirements. A footnote to the Temporary Sales group in the table adds that persons conducting temporary sales should contact the Director to ensure that other permits are not required. Section 4.3.50 also requires that the sale not be detrimental to property or improvements in the surrounding area or to public health, safety or general welfare, that it not have substantial adverse effects or noise impacts on nearby residential neighborhoods, that adequate off-street parking be provided, that no permanent alterations be made to the site, and that temporary signs meet Section 5.6.60 and be removed when the activity ends.

Where you sell matters. Section 4.3.30 prohibits retail sales or display of goods within the public right-of-way except as part of an authorized not-for-profit, County-recognized event, so tables and racks belong on the parcel and not on the road edge. The same section bars retail sales from a motor vehicle, trailer or shipping container except as part of a permitted seasonal sale or a roadside stand. Self-service storage facilities cannot host a sale either: Section 4.1.220 says storage bays shall not be used to conduct garage sales or retail sales of any kind.

Other temporary sales follow different rules. Sidewalk and parking lot sales are capped at 72 hours per event and four occurrences per parcel per year, with a permit under Section 4.3.90. Seasonal sales are limited to 45 days per calendar year and no more than three occurrences per parcel, with a permit under Section 4.3.80. Temporary not-for-profit car washes carry the same 14-day annual limit as garage sales. A temporary use not listed in the table is evaluated case by case by the Director as an interpretation under Section 7.3.60.