Buncombe County, NC Sign Regulations: Garage Sale Signs (2026)

The county's off-premises sign ordinance, Article V of Chapter 78, sets its rule for yard sale signage inside the definitions section at Sec. 78-498 rather than in a stand-alone regulatory section, but the language is mandatory: a yard sale sign must stay under six square feet, and only one sign is allowed per lot regardless of how many items or days the sale runs. The sign must be taken down the day after the sale, not left up as a standing advertisement, and its placement is restricted for safety: a sign cannot be positioned so it blocks a driver's or pedestrian's ability to see oncoming traffic at an intersection or a driveway.

This ordinance applies only in the unincorporated areas of the county, exclusive of the municipalities, and also picks up any area where a municipality isn't exercising sign regulation in its extraterritorial jurisdiction, per Sec. 78-497. Because the sign administrator, who is also the zoning administrator, enforces the whole article, a homeowner in Arden, Fairview, Leicester, Candler or Swannanoa who oversizes a yard sale sign, posts more than one, or leaves it up past the one-day removal window is subject to the same enforcement path used for oversized commercial and off-premise signs.