Minnetonka considers limits on garage sales

How many garage sales is too many?

Minnetonka is preparing to join the circle of cities that set a limit.

Edina holds homeowners to one per year. Minneapolis, Maplewood and St. Louis Park allow two per household. Richfield, three. Maple Grove and Bloomington permit their residents four per year.

"Garage sales are certainly part of the suburban culture, and we found that we were one of the few cities that didn't have any special requirements or limitations," said Minnetonka Community Development Director Ron Rankin.

Garage sales have increased in popularity because sellers want to make money and shoppers want to save money, said John Schroeder of Minneapolis, a garage sale enthusiast and author of the 2005 book "Garage Sale Fever."

He approves of keeping sales in check to preserve the tradition of low-cost rummage, and he doubts that limiting sale numbers will be a hardship because people typically have garage sales no more frequently than every other year.

But, he said, "This is a way for people in tough times to make some money, so I would think the less regulation the better."

Complaints prompt action

The city's difficulties in stopping an antiques sale at an empty house in a residential neighborhood last year led to consideration of a garage sale ordinance this spring, said Assistant City Attorney Rolf Sponheim -- even though the sale in question technically was not a garage sale.

The proposed ordinance would require that property sold at a garage sale belong to the homeowner or friends of the homeowner and not be purchased for resale or received on consignment for resale.

In Minnetonka, the intention -- as in other cities with garage sale ordinances -- is to enforce the provision if a sale prompts complaints, said Minnetonka City Manager John Gunyou.

Bloomington investigates a sale only if a resident complains, said Bloomington Planning Manager Mike Hawbaker. "We don't go around keeping track of how many garage sales people have. We don't license them, and we don't have garage sale police."

Minnetonka has received complaints like one e-mailed by a resident to City Hall in support of sale limits. She wrote that her neighbors hold garage sales throughout the summer, causing traffic and parking problems and storing unsold items in their driveway and yard for the next sale; "the view from my house is of their miscellaneous collections of stuff. A limit on the number of garage sales per year would be a benefit for the homeowners on our street."

Choosing a limit

Sale limits vary by community, with no common rationale apparent.

Burnsville's ordinance says merely that the sales must be "infrequent." Eden Prairie has not seen a need for a garage sale ordinance but has one drafted in case it begins to receive complaints.

Edina settled on one sale per year, Associate Planner Joyce Repya said, because "we are trying to maintain the residential nature of our neighborhoods." Council members want homeowners to be able to get rid of unwanted items, but "they don't want it to become a business," she said.

Callison said the Minnetonka City Council will set a limit after hearing residents' comments. "In my mind, two or three [per year] is probably reasonable," she said.

Minnetonka resident Amy Carlson -- who held her third garage sale in 18 years early this month -- said a limit of two sales per year sounds right. "I think if you are doing more you are doing it as a business."

Resident Craig Berdan would welcome a two-sale limit in Minnetonka.

"Garage sales are disruptive events to the neighborhood," Berdan said. They start people milling about early, disturbing the peace, and "thoughtless strangers park on curbs and lawns, blocking streets, driveways, mailboxes, fire hydrants, delivery trucks and parking places for legitimate guests."

But Rudy Peterson, who has had three garage sales in her 40 years in Minnetonka, sees no reason for the city to regulate them.

Laurie Blake • 612-673-1711