Newport News, VA Sign Regulations: Garage Sale Signs (2026)

City Code Section 37-2 governs garage sales, yard sales, backyard sales and similar sales of secondhand goods citywide. 00 fee. The permit is good for 10 consecutive days from the chosen start date, is tied to that date range, and cannot be transferred to another person or address. Permits are issued only for sales conducted at the applicant's own usual residence; a commercial lot, a friend's house or a vacant parcel does not qualify. Each address is capped at four permits per calendar year, and at least 45 days must pass between one permit's expiration and the next one being issued for that same address.

The city closes an obvious workaround: that four-per-year, 45-day-gap cap applies not just to the same applicant, but also to applications filed by a parent, child or sibling living at the address, and to applications from any other resident of that address, so a household cannot rotate the permit among family members to exceed the limit. On signage specifically, Section 37-2(c) states that no sign advertising a permitted sale may be placed on any property other than the residence of the person holding the sale, meaning sale signs cannot be staked in a neighbor's yard, a street median, a utility pole or any other off-site property even with the owner's permission. 00 per violation. The section traces to Ordinance No. 2) and has been amended several times, most recently by Ordinance No. 4696-95.