Give us a sign for garage sales

Did you know that in Elgin, residential garage sale signs shall be displayed only during sale hours and shall be located only on the zoning lot where the sale is being conducted?

That means you cannot ask someone on another street to put your sign up in their yard. No residential garage sale sign shall be placed on public property including, but not limited to, trees, traffic control signs, utility poles and tree banks. There is a $50 per sign fine.

So, basically, no garage sale signs.

We took a petition with 150 names to the city council to ask them to change this. Marc Mylott, Director of Community Development, called and told me of all the laws against yard sale signs. I asked him to print the rules in the paper and he declined, saying no one reads the paper anymore. I asked how the political signs could be up for months, and his answer was that’s a matter of freedom of speech.

If you think this is unfair, call city hall, a councilman or the mayor to complain.

Char Stanley

Elgin