Hey, there! Log in / Register
Councilor would require permits for yard sales as way to crack down on commercial ventures
By adamg on Mon, 02/22/2016 - 9:20pm
Councilor Tim McCarthy (Roslindale, Mattapan, Hyde Park) says he has nothing against the time honored tradition of yard sales. But he says something has to be done about people who are turning them into full-scale commercial enterprises, disrupting blocks with traffic, noise and trash.
On Wednesday, the City Council considers his request to begin work on an ordinance to regulate yard and garage sales - by requiring Bostonians to get a permit from ISD for yard sales and creating fines for tag-sale transgressors who hold more than three per year at any one address - or try to bring in large volumes of stuff for sale.
McCarthy says he's seeing a growing number of complaints about yard-sale abuse:
Recently, yard sales and garage sales have turned into commercial enterprises with property owners bringing in large quantities of merchandise for sale. These sales typically occur on a weekly or monthly basis causing excessive noise, traffic, trash and disruption to the quality of life for neighbors.
His proposal would also bar the sale of any stuff not owned by the resident or his or her neighbors. "The sale of merchandise by a business entity, new merchandise in bulk is prohibited."
McCarthy would also forbid starting times earlier than 8 a.m.
Violations would be punishable by fines ranging from $100 for a first offense to $300 for a third offense and beyond.
If the council approves, the next step would be a formal hearing.
The council's Wednesday meeting begins at noon in its fifth-floor chambers in City Hall.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 McCarthy's proposed ordinance | 121.55 KB |
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Are there some statistics?
How many people actually do this? I am guessing the number isn't high enough to have political hacks make a new law.
Visual stats
Actually, recorded stats is not necessary nor the issue. In the case before us there is an effort to deal with what has become - in some areas - full-scale flea markets as opposed to a simple garage sale that gets rid of junk or overflow. The target audience (for want of a better term) are those who are hosting weekly such sales, like every Saturday and Sunday, and may also be collecting items from others. Buy at $1 and sell at $2.
Some of these are also blocking sidewalks with tables and other stand-alone items such as tables, chairs, lamps.
That said, some of these can easily be cited for blocking a sidewalk but the BPD lacks people that can check for that on most days.
The ordnance seeks to address those who are running an obvious business as opposed to the 1-2 times a year garage sale people, or those who host a moving sale to down-size what they need to move.
If you have not see this as a problem in your neighborhood, be thankful. If this is warranting some kind of regulation and attention it is because some people, not just some lone crank, are making calls asking for help.
While some-such ventures may be managed responsibly, others are not, raising concerns about items stored in garages, on porches, etc, when not on display. Or in some instances, simply left in the yards covered by a tarp when the "store" is not open.
In a few isolated instances, the items for sale may have been shop-lifted, so regulation may also help stem this market.
WTF - Visual Stats???
Actually, stats should drive all decisions like this.
You sound like a political hack or someone who is related to one. That's probably why you are in the know.
Then use existing laws
Seems to me that there are existing laws about commercial enterprises in areas where the zoning does not permit them.
Ditto when items are shop-lifted, and when hazardous items are stored or items are stored in a hazardous way.
Unless there is a hazard, what people have in their yards under tarps is their business.
Would this kill Allston
Would this kill Allston Christmas?
No
Because Allston Christmas is the wanton dumping of trash followed by the wanton picking through said trash.
(And yes I lived in Allston for years. Allston Christmas is the city's fault for getting into some weird staring contest with property owners over who should deal with the trash instead of working together for a solution such as public dumpsters.)
Let me guess...
This is because of the giant daily yard sale at Hyde Park Ave and Thatcher, right? Yard sale every day for years, and firmly within McCarthy's District 5.
Washington Street
There's one on Washington St a bit up the hill from Tony's too. Don't know how much it impacts the neighbors though.
Another. Dumb. Politician.
Who thinks of this nonsense?
ISD can't even handle their current responsibilities but we're going to add more to their plate?
This guy must have nothing better to do with his time.
I don't
While I think it may be a waste of time.. it is an issue.
There are people who do make this a way to skirt laws and have a 'reselling' business without paying proper taxes and fees.
This is common place in Chelsealand.. there's a 'garage sale' near my house inside a garage that is open every weekend during the summer. Is this a garage sale, or someone too cheap to rent commercial real estate, pay taxes, and setup a business?
Sounds to me like its more of a business than someone trying to unload their stuff.
I see his point..
An issue that needs a new law?
I see the point that people are skirting the regulations and can be running an unlicensed/unregulated business this way. On the other hand I'd be surprised if there's not already some kind of law that can already deal with this.
City Council
So someone on my city council saw my message and send me a link to their ordinance. (thank you, Matt Frank)
Apparently Chelsea already has a law like this...
Maybe the City of Boston should follow suit.
That seems better than having
That seems better than having an up-front registration fee and process. Just have a fine for offenders with good safe harbor provisions for actual yard sales.
I can't take credit for
I can't take credit for passing this particular ordinance in Chelsea (I was 15 in 1996, it would be ten years before I would join) but I do think it makes sense. Plus it says 2 but quite frankly by the time people get around to complaining about it and proving that they had more than 2 becomes difficult. I do not have stats on me but I know that people who have even upwards to 5 are most likely not being hassled. Requiring people to get a permit every time they want to have a yard sale is burdensome. On the other hand there is a reason why the house where the yard sale happens at every week is not a store, between parking and increased traffic and general aesthetics it has the potential to change the character of a street and affect the quality of life for others.
Just like everything else though it is about reporting and enforcement. The city is not driving around monitoring the streets for people who have 3 yard sales...
Agree. Seems reasonable to me
Agree. Seems reasonable to me to come up with a mechanism to distinguish your average, run-of-the-mill yard sale from what essentially are de facto flea markets in people's front yards.
"Chelsealand"?
Who actually says that?
I do
Thankyouverymuch
I'm genuinely shocked
I would have thought Boston ran out of things to regulate years ago.
One question
What if I want to have dancing at my yard sale?
Oh, that's simple
A one-day dancing license from the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing.
What if you want to sell a puppy
while dancing?
Puppies ok. Pussycats not ok
Puppies ok. Pussycats not ok.
Why not ticket them for the
Why not ticket them for the noise and the litter and be done with it?
makes
too much sense
anybody who is against this
dont worry, they still have to bother to enforce it hahahaha
Bad law
1. I doubt if anyone will go down to 1010 or even file on line for a $25 dollar permit or whatever the cost merely to have a yard sale. So anyone who wants to have a yard sale they are putting themselves at risk for harassment by a a pissy neighbor who calls ISD (where no one answers since it's a Saturday) to whine and bitch.
2. This might decrease yard sales. Yet yard sales are a good way of recycling goods (recycling doesn't just have to be about resused trash) and provides folks with means to acquire that 50 cents manufacturing cost, $1 yard retail, $10 retail cost laundry basket. So a good way to make dollars stretched is eliminated.
3. This is mostly a money grab. Just as the annual apartment renewal fee was a money grab by the city (it was supposed to crack down on slumlord-student housing - and the result was?).
4. Meanwhile worse problems exist. Spring is soon to arrive. With Spring more motorcycles with after market exhausts audible half a mile away, more boom boom cars shaking houses. If Murphy needs to set up a money grab for the city but really wants to do good for the city how about enforcing bans against noise levels that disturb the peace along with much larger fines?
5. Murphy could also help the city tremendously by dealing with the slow as glacier ISD instead of putting more work on an agency that is supposedly protecting buildings but is as much as an albatross to every construction project in the city due to it taking forever to issue long form permits.
Is it a bad dream or do we really have a City Council that ignores the obvious issues and instead focuses on low hanging fruit to prove they really are earning the pay raises that give themselves?
McCarthy not Murphy
I like a good Murphy bash but he's out of the council and this is the work of Tim McCarthy.
McCarthy---->Murphy
With silly ordinances like this, it seems like McCarthy is filling out Murphy's seat just perfectly.
Overbroad
This is an axe where a scalpel will do.
This might actually work out
This might actually work out if the permit portal has a public facing "Find a Yard Sale" interface. Make it a resource for the general public. You obtain a permit and advertise your yard sale in one shot.
this would be so cool
this would be so cool
Walking licenses
There are too many people walking around the city of Boston, it creates a racket, I have to wait in line for 30 minutes to get lunch or worse, sometimes I fast until 2pm and lines are more manageable. With all of these people walking around the city someone is going to get hurt, really bad injuries in the future. It's time we do the sensible thing and come together, we need to register all of these pedestrians. We need their fingerprints, we need to make sure we check their backgrounds, we need to make sure they're not up to no good in our communal neighborhoods. It's time for a change, it's time to make this a modern city, together. Petition your leaders!
dang its true
if only we had some forms of identification issued to us at birth
What about non-profit
What about non-profit organizations?
The wording of this ordinance is specifically for residential properties, so a church hosting one on their property or a PTA/PTO holding one on school property wouldn't need to worry about this, but I remember at least one yard sale when I was in Scouting that was held at a private residence on a main road (in the suburbs). That sort of sale consisted of many donated items from many different owners, certainly not solely owned by the resident of the property the sale was being held on.