Wheaton council limits residents to two garage sales per year

In an effort to curb perpetual garage sales, the Wheaton City Council has approved an ordinance limiting residents to two sales a year for a maximum of two consecutive days each.

One amendment was made to the ordinance before the city council unanimously approved it Monday. It was suggested by Councilman Todd Scalzo, who asked if a line stating that sales would be banned on Sundays be deleted, as a trade-off for the other new restrictions.

Councilman Thor Saline was the only person to vote no to the amendment. Saline said he knew about Scalzo's suggestion prior to the meeting, so he talked to residents in his district and found about half agreed with the proposed ban of sales on Sundays.

Prior to the vote, Councilman Phil Suess asked for more information about why the council was considering such an ordinance.

City Manager Don Rose said perpetual sales have been an issue this year in several locations in the city, including in the vicinity of city hall. He said more complaints than usual have been filed by residents regarding neighborhood sales happening "fairly regularly throughout the summer months," and Councilman John Rutledge even alerted city staff to a location where a resident was selling bicycles in their yard almost daily.

The new ordinance expands the definition of garage sale to include several other terms, including estate, hoarder, lawn, yard, attic, porch, room, patio, rummage and backyard sales.

According to the ordinance, sales cannot be held before 8 a.m. or after 5 p.m. and they are banned from being held on the public right of way. The ordinance also states that no signs or other forms of advertisement can be on display for more than two days prior to the start of the garage sale.