Are Those Unsightly Garage Sale Signs Illegal?

Perhaps there’s no surer indication that summer has arrived than the ubiquitous garage sale signs that sprout on every street corner. Drivers seemingly can’t pass an intersection without some fluorescent poster board pointing them to driveway full of card tables.

That doesn’t mean these signs are allowed everywhere, though. Hopkins ordinances spell out areas where signs are banned.

Signs are banned in most public right-of-ways, City Planner Nancy Anderson wrote in a memo last week. That means garage sale signs aren’t allowed on utility poles, light poles, traffic light poles or stop sign poles on streets and intersections.

Residents also need a property owner’s permission to post signs on private property.

If the city receives a complaint about a sign in an unauthorized area, Public Works employees will collect the signs as time allows and destroy them.