Merced County, CA Sign Regulations: Garage Sale Signs (2026)

Merced County's Zoning Code regulates garage and yard sales as temporary events. Section 18.60.290(A) allows residential garage or yard sales for selling used household merchandise no more than once every three months. Article 8 defines 'Garage or Yard Sales' and cross-references this temporary-event section. The Zoning Code's sign chapter (18.44) does not list garage-sale signs among the exempt signs in Section 18.44.070; the closest exemption is for temporary signs advertising special and seasonal events that contain no reference to goods or services, which must be removed within five days following the event (Section 18.44.070(A)(4)). Off-site directional signs that point to a garage sale are temporary off-site signs and, unlike the specific carve-outs for open-house and political signs in Section 18.44.090(D), are not separately exempted, so a Sign Permit can be required and signs may not be placed in the public right-of-way or affixed to utility poles, trees, or fences. As a practical matter the County focuses enforcement on signs that create traffic hazards or are left in the right-of-way. Homeowners should keep garage-sale signs on private property, remove them promptly after the sale, and avoid intersections and sight-distance triangles.