Columbia, MO Sign Regulations: Garage Sale Signs (2026)

Table 4.8-2 in Columbia's sign standards (§ 29-4.8) sets the rules for garage sale signs on residential lots. The stated purpose of the sign type is to "Advertise garage sale conducted on premises," and the table attaches four limits to it: number, area, location and timing.

Number: one sign for each street abutting the premises. An interior lot with one frontage gets one sign; a corner lot touching two streets gets two. Area: 4 sq. ft. per sign, so a 2-foot by 2-foot board is the largest a single sign can be. Location: on premises only. The sign stands on the lot where the sale is held, not in a neighbor's yard and not at a distant intersection. Timing: signs are only permitted during the time of the sale, and the table gives garage sales no lead time. Compare the open house column in the same table, which allows 3 signs per property, on or off the premises, posted 48 hours before viewing and removed one hour after it closes. Garage sale signs get none of that flexibility.

The Code defines the activity in § 29-1.11: a garage sale is the sale or offering for sale to the general public of over five (5) items of personal property on any portion of a lot in a residential zoning district, whether within or outside any building. Sales of programs and food and beverage items at school athletic events are excluded.

No permit or fee is required. The sign permit provision, § 29-6.4(f)(1)(ii)(J), lists garage sale signs among the types that can be erected without a permit or payment of a permit fee, but each such sign must still meet every standard in § 29-4.8.

Two related bans apply. Under § 29-4.8(c)(2), no one except a public officer or employee on public duty can fasten a sign or notice to a curbstone, lamppost, street or sidewalk surface, pole, bridge or tree upon a public street, and the section names garage sales as an example. Under § 29-4.8(c)(9), off-premise signs and billboards are not allowed except as provided in § 29-4.8(e)(2).