Ankeny, IA Sign Regulations: Garage Sale Signs (2026)

Ankeny Code of Ordinances § 195.03(12) permits garage sale signs without a sign permit, but limits each sale to a maximum of three days of signage. Every sign is capped at three square feet in area and cannot be placed within any public right-of-way, on a sidewalk, in a street, or on a driveway median, protecting sightlines and pedestrian space. The section lets a homeowner post signs within a half-mile radius of the actual garage sale location to direct traffic from nearby streets, but bars placement within 300 feet of a major arterial street intersection, the same 300-foot buffer the code uses for open house and real estate signs under § 195.03(4)(C).

A footnote to the subsection states these placement rules took effect July 1, 2008. Dimensionally, garage sale signs fall under the same Appendix C category as political and promotional signs: a 5-foot minimum setback from the street right-of-way, a 5-foot setback from other yard lines, and a 6-foot maximum height. Because no permit is required, enforcement is by removal rather than permit revocation: the Department Director can treat an oversized, overlong, or improperly placed garage sale sign as an unpermitted violation of the sign chapter.