Durham, NC Sign Regulations: Garage Sale Signs (2026)

UDO Sec. 11.4.2.R, Yard Sale Signs, defines the sign simply as one 'advertising a yard or garage sale' and puts it in the same list of sign types every property in Durham may erect without a sign permit, alongside home occupation signs, incidental directional signs and farm signs. The size limits are two flat numbers: a yard sale sign 'shall not exceed four feet in height and six square feet in area per sign,' and the ordinance caps the count at one sign, stating a property is 'limited to one sign per lot' regardless of how many items or how large the sale.

The timing rule is what separates a yard sale sign from Durham's other unpermitted temporary signs: it 'may be erected up to five days prior to the event and shall be removed within two days after the event.' That five-day posting window and two-day removal deadline apply per sale, a homeowner cannot post the sign indefinitely between sales, and a sign left up past the two-day removal deadline is no longer within the exemption. Because Sec. 11.4.2.R sits in the without-permit list, a compliant sign never needs a sign permit application under Sec. 3.10, but a sign that's oversized, a second sign on the same lot, or one left up past the removal window falls outside the exemption and becomes a code violation.