News From Durango
Front page news from my home town of Durango, Colorado:
Got A Permit For That Yard Sale Sign?
By Shane Benjamin
Herald Staff Writer
Thinking of cashing in your junk at a garage sale? Beware the long arm of the law.
City of Durango officials won’t take kindly to garage sale vendors posting signs willy-nilly around town. You can post a sign, but you’ve got to follow the rules.
Durango police issued a warning this week: If you post a sign on a tree, utility pole, traffic-sign pole or any public spot besides your front yard without a city permit, you could get whacked with a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail.
"It’s this time of the year when we’re going to see a lot more garage and yard (selling) going on," said Durango police Capt. Dale Smith. "We want everyone to have successful garage sales and have fun doing it. We just don’t want them pasting (signs) onto ... trees and utility poles and traffic signs."
Before posting signs within city limits, residents must get a sign permit at River City Hall, 1235 Camino del Rio. It’s free, but there is paperwork.
"It’s extremely simple," said Jill Rosier, administrative assistant at River City Hall. "It’s a one-page form. It takes maybe five minutes to fill out. It can be approved within five minutes. It’s really a formality."
The purpose of the permit is twofold: to inform people about appropriate places to post signs and to help ensure signs are taken down after the sale.
"We find the people who fill out the garage-sale-sign permits for us are very responsible," Rosier said. "It’s the ones that don’t who are not responsible about picking up their signs afterwards."
Self-described "garage-sale diehard" Judy Seiler said requiring people to fill out permits is a ploy by the government to begin taxing garage sales. If the city knows about every garage sale, officials could require sale invoices, she said.
"It’s ridiculous," Seiler said. "To have a permit, to me, is just a preliminary jump to start taxing us."
City Manager Bob Ledger shot back: "That’s ridiculous. That’s not the purpose of it at all." The city just wants to clamp down on sign litter, he said.
"We get a lot of complaints from people," Ledger said. "It’s sign pollution, and they create a problem. If we just let people put things wherever they want in the public right of way, the city would be inundated."
The city permit requires the applicant’s name, street address, sale dates, dates when signs will be posted and where they will be posted. Signs cannot remain in the public right of way for more than 48 hours and cannot be posted on utility poles, traffic signs or nailed into trees.
But officers just won’t be out looking for an easy bust.
Smith said police will give a verbal warning to first-time offenders. People who do not remove signs after being asked and repeat offenders will be cited, he said.
"We will locate the person or persons who are having the event and make them aware of the violation and ask them to retrieve all of their signs," Smith said. "We’ll leave it at that if they go and get their signs."
Front page news from my home town of Durango, Colorado:
Got A Permit For That Yard Sale Sign?
By Shane Benjamin
Herald Staff Writer
Thinking of cashing in your junk at a garage sale? Beware the long arm of the law.
City of Durango officials won’t take kindly to garage sale vendors posting signs willy-nilly around town. You can post a sign, but you’ve got to follow the rules.
Durango police issued a warning this week: If you post a sign on a tree, utility pole, traffic-sign pole or any public spot besides your front yard without a city permit, you could get whacked with a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail.
"It’s this time of the year when we’re going to see a lot more garage and yard (selling) going on," said Durango police Capt. Dale Smith. "We want everyone to have successful garage sales and have fun doing it. We just don’t want them pasting (signs) onto ... trees and utility poles and traffic signs."
Before posting signs within city limits, residents must get a sign permit at River City Hall, 1235 Camino del Rio. It’s free, but there is paperwork.
"It’s extremely simple," said Jill Rosier, administrative assistant at River City Hall. "It’s a one-page form. It takes maybe five minutes to fill out. It can be approved within five minutes. It’s really a formality."
The purpose of the permit is twofold: to inform people about appropriate places to post signs and to help ensure signs are taken down after the sale.
"We find the people who fill out the garage-sale-sign permits for us are very responsible," Rosier said. "It’s the ones that don’t who are not responsible about picking up their signs afterwards."
Self-described "garage-sale diehard" Judy Seiler said requiring people to fill out permits is a ploy by the government to begin taxing garage sales. If the city knows about every garage sale, officials could require sale invoices, she said.
"It’s ridiculous," Seiler said. "To have a permit, to me, is just a preliminary jump to start taxing us."
City Manager Bob Ledger shot back: "That’s ridiculous. That’s not the purpose of it at all." The city just wants to clamp down on sign litter, he said.
"We get a lot of complaints from people," Ledger said. "It’s sign pollution, and they create a problem. If we just let people put things wherever they want in the public right of way, the city would be inundated."
The city permit requires the applicant’s name, street address, sale dates, dates when signs will be posted and where they will be posted. Signs cannot remain in the public right of way for more than 48 hours and cannot be posted on utility poles, traffic signs or nailed into trees.
But officers just won’t be out looking for an easy bust.
Smith said police will give a verbal warning to first-time offenders. People who do not remove signs after being asked and repeat offenders will be cited, he said.
"We will locate the person or persons who are having the event and make them aware of the violation and ask them to retrieve all of their signs," Smith said. "We’ll leave it at that if they go and get their signs."
