Santa Barbara, CA Sign Regulations: Garage Sale Signs (2026)

Garage and yard sales themselves are limited exempt temporary uses in the City - no more than four events per 12-month period and no more than three consecutive days. The signs advertising them are governed by Sign Regulations in Municipal Code Chapter 22.70, Section 22.70.030. Garage-sale signs are noncommercial temporary signs, so on a residential lot the combined noncommercial sign area is capped at six square feet and no sign permit is required when within that limit. Signs must be on private property with the property owner's permission. The City separately regulates temporary signs in the public right-of-way: such signs may not exceed 42 inches in height, must be free-standing and kept off the sidewalk or other pedestrian path, and, for the business-sign program, are limited to the weekend window from 6 a.m. Saturday to 11:59 p.m. Sunday. Signs that violate the right-of-way rules may be removed immediately by City officials and stored for 90 days before being destroyed if unclaimed. Temporary signs are also prohibited in the El Pueblo Viejo Historic District. There is no specific city ordinance authorizing garage-sale signs on utility poles or in medians, so the safest approach is to keep signs on the seller's own property within the six-square-foot residential limit. These are City rules; unincorporated areas follow the County code.