Ah, the joys of hosting a garage sale. Cleansing your living
space of surmounting clutter, making a few extra bucks and purging
those outmoded disco boots is something we’re all entitled to,
right? Full story
Ah, the joys of hosting a garage sale.
Cleansing your living space of surmounting clutter, making a few extra bucks and purging those outmoded disco boots is something we’re all entitled to, right?
Sure – if you go about it the right way.
“People have no idea they’re not supposed to do this,” said 80-year-old Gilroy resident Marvin Thomas, a longtime graffiti abatement volunteer who’s made a habit of removing illegal signage from public property.
If you have organized a yard sale in the last three years and advertised the event by taping signs to a street lamp, telephone pole, stop sign or tree on a public sidewalk, there’s a fair chance it wound up in a plastic garbage bin Thomas keeps in the bed of his white pickup.
In just the last three months, he’s tallied about 140 signs.
“People say, ‘we always take ours down,'” Thomas said. “And I say, ‘well, you’re not supposed to put them up in the first place.'”
According to the city’s municipal code Sec. 13.44 and Sec. 3.5, residents wishing to hold a garage sale (a) must fill out and file a free application with the City of Gilroy’s Business License Department, (b) may only conduct one garage sale exceeding no more than seven days once a year and (c) “shall not paste, print, nail, tack or otherwise fasten any card, banner, handbill, sign, poster or advertisement or notice of any kind on public streets or property within the city.”
Effective since 1927, Sec. 3.5 extends to lampposts, poles, fire hydrants, bridges and more, and exempts public officers or employees performing a public duty. The ordinance allows anyone to take signs down, Thomas said.
First-time offenders receive two courtesy citations, followed by a violation notice and fines that can reach $100 according to Hipolito Olmos, code enforcement officer for the City of Gilroy.
Thomas said his efforts aren’t directed at issuing citations, however, so much as they are “getting people to take ownership of Gilroy and police themselves,” he said.
Every Monday, Thomas dons an orange vest while cruising around town in his pickup, stopping at street corners littered with paper, poster and cardboard paraphernalia. He removes signs, touches up spots where duct tape causes paint to chip, and lastly adheres a decal sticker that warns, “Signs and graffiti prohibited, violators will be prosecuted.” The idea came from the City of Oakland, said Olmos.
When he’s done sign hunting, Thomas retreats to the Gilroy Police Department to document his finds and mail courtesy letters to offenders.
“We’re lucky to have volunteers like Marvin, who donate their hours to send courtesy notices. He’s great,” said Olmos. “Most citizens of Gilroy aren’t aware you cannot post a yard sale sign on public property.”
When asked if this issue had crossed their radar, City Councilman Bob Dillon mentioned he noticed a “zillion of them up last weekend,” with many still remaining.
Just a week after Gilroy hosted its annual citywide garage sale weekend with 134 homes participating, the city’s elected officials weren’t convinced of the impact they could have on curtailing the signage issue.
“I suppose it’s one of those annoying things that good manners and common sense would cure, but we both know how rare those qualities are,” Dillon wrote in an email. “So do I plan to ask the cops to crack down? No. They have better things to do.”
Councilman Dion Bracco is on the same page. He commended Thomas’ efforts, but agreed “this is one of those things you just have to accept that you can’t do much to change, and move on to the issues you can do something about.”
Last Wednesday, Thomas said he scooped up 16 signs. The weekly average is 12, but fluctuates depending on the number of garage sales “and how active I am on getting out there and chasing them down.”
Olmos called excessive signage “a real issue.” People sometimes post in a way that partially obstructs a stop sign or one-way sign, he said.
Between himself and volunteers, Hipolito estimated 30 signs are pulled down every week.
Which sounds about right; a 10-minute drive Friday afternoon yielded a dozen sightings. Numerous cardboard advertisements dotted intersections along Forest, Sixth, Chestnut, Old Gilroy, 10th and Church streets.
Thomas doesn’t single out garage sale signs, either. If it’s posted on public property, he takes it down – a city beautification task he’s committed to, but said is trying when the sign is for a philanthropic bake sale, or photocopied pictures with captions pleading, “Have you seen our pet?”
Admitting, “sometimes, you just have to walk away,” Thomas said he doesn’t enjoy, for example, yanking down a Relay For Life flier.
Olmos maintained the ultimate goal is educating citizens about the legal way to host a garage sale and advertise for an upcoming event, rather than issuing citations – “which we will eventually start doing,” Thomas warned.
So, what’s the best way to go about generating some healthy publicity?
Arrange a large poster in your front window, set up an A-frame sign on your lawn, advertise with local publications or put fliers on your car and park it somewhere noticeable are a handful of Olmos’ suggestions. Thomas offered the idea of paying a teenager to put a sign on their bike and ride it around town.
Between graffiti abatement, cleanup and garage sale sign hunting, Thomas said he clocks about 12 hours a week working Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
“You got to find things that keep you busy and occupied so you don’t just sit in a chair,” said the family man who has lived with his wife, Roxie in Gilroy since 1964. The two have three daughters and six grandchildren.
While he admits to enjoying volunteer work that makes him feel “youthful,” Thomas reiterates the bottom line: “There are a lot of things that people do, but that doesn’t make it right.”
