Thursday, June 02, 2005

So, How Much For That He-Man Action Figure?

Usually, when you plan to move, you sell what you don't want to hassle with packing in a garage sale. Sometime after settling in (and of course finding out that the sofa doesn't match the existing chandelier, your area rugs don't fit new areas and your garage is smaller than you thought) another garage sale happens. If a child is moving off to college and they'd like to get rid of some things that they can't take with them, there's a garage sale. You discover you can fit two cars in the garage if you organize better (and get rid of 3 extra rakes as well as lawn mower and weed-whacker since you've gone to desert landscape.) Heck, there are tons of reasons to have a garage sale. Sometimes you don't get rid of everything the first weekend.

But, it seems that someone in the Las Vegas legislature has put forward an idea to limit people to 2 a year and anyone holding a yard/garage sale would have to register it. I can see only two good reasons to do that: your neighbor has one each weekend causing traffic problems or it would somehow force you to take down your sale signs when it's done so people aren't looking for your house the next weekend. For all the good it could do, who would run this? How many state/local employees would our taxes have to pay to sit near a phone or fax machine collecting your information? How many do you pay to check records to see if they've gone over the magic #2? How much staff do you hire to look for people not reporting their garage sales? Seems like a whole new section of government would have to be set up for this. Would you have to pay a registration fee for your yard sale to fund a department like this? Would fines for going over pay for these salaries?

Seems to me that there are better ways to solve this. I even have a few impromptu solutions of my own. If a house is having a sale each week, they should be asked for a business license for their home address (zoning restrictions would prohibit a store set up in a residential area so that would keep that from happening.) If people are leaving up signs way too long, any police car with downtime can pick it up and drop a nice little ticket for littering at their doorstep. Anything would be better than finding a way to get into my pocket.

6 comments:

RT said...

That does sound pretty silly considering the alternatives. Just out of curiousity, did they say how long a person could hold their sale? We have people around here that have them for three weeks in a row (as per law,) take a week off, then do it again...

Anonymous said...

Here lately I've learned of several useless ordinances here in my home town. On the yardsale subject, it's well known here within the city limits you must go to the courthouse and purchase a $5 permit to hold a yardsale on your own property from 9am to 5pm, no sooner, no later. And heaven forbid you advert in the paper for it, because then they'll find ya..tsk tsk.

The craziest one I just found out about yesterday is that even though it's your car infront of your house and even if no one complains, one must still move his car at least once every 72 hours. My best friend's car was hit and run and instead of bein treated like a victim she was lectured on the ordinance.

Recently, city council tried to pass an ordiance to outlaw front yard parking. They passed the one on how high a rental's grass is allowed to be by law (can't remember the exact number), but I don't think the front yard parking thing passed. Go figure.

You'd be surprised the crazy things you'll find in your city records.

Martin said...

Vavoom - Thankfully, the legislation has only been proposed (for the life of me, I can't remember the name of the person proposing it) but no vote or even discussion has started on it.

Miss Hobby - That reminds me of another post that I need to make. You'll really enjoy it hahaha. Btw, does parking in your front yard mean right next to the tree where the grass should be?

Moose - Here's to them getting the new stadium and finding money to keep Edge.

RT - 3 weeks in a row? ack Miss Vegas yet? B)

RT said...

More than you know, hunny, more than you know.

Teri said...

They were talking about this on the radio this morning driving into work...I do not remember who proposed the idea either, I was just dumbfounded at the stupidity of it.

Anonymous said...

I did research and found out the height of a rental's grass has to be 10 inches or less...lol. Itiots actually put a number on it.

And a three week yard sale?? Holy cow