Auburn, WA Sign Regulations: Garage Sale Signs (2026)

Auburn City Code Chapter 18.56 (Signs) permits temporary noncommercial signs, including garage-sale, yard-sale, and open-house signs, on private property with the owner's permission during the event they advertise. Signs must be removed within a short time after the sale concludes (generally by the end of the sale day or within 24 hours), and they cannot accumulate as standing advertising. Signs are prohibited in the public right-of-way, including planting strips between sidewalks and curbs, on sidewalks, in medians, and attached to utility poles, street trees, traffic signs, fences around public parks, or other public fixtures. The Auburn Public Works department routinely removes illegal signs placed in the right-of-way and discards them without notice. Typical size limits for temporary residential event signs in Auburn are small - around four to six square feet per face - and illumination is prohibited. Multiple directional signs leading to a garage sale must each be on private property with the owner's consent, not on every corner lot in the neighborhood. Violations generally receive a courtesy notice before a civil infraction, unless the pattern of illegal placement is ongoing. Commercial sandwich boards and yard signs for businesses are governed by separate rules in ACC 18.56 and may require a sign permit.