Holding a yard sale just got a whole lot more difficult in Boscawen. Starting Monday, residents will need to apply for a permit – complete with a parking plan – and they will be limited to three yard sales per year.
It’s all part of a new ordinance adopted by the Boscawen select board earlier this month after traffic and safety concerns were brought before the board.
In addition to the new permit and parking rules, the ordinance limits yard sales to no longer than three days, and sales are restricted to personal property, as opposed to consigned or off-sale items.
Violations will cost $50 each day they are committed.
Talk of writing up some rules began in April according to meeting minutes, when the select board heard concerns from Boscawen police Chief Kevin Wyman about the congestion and increased foot traffic from cars parking along King Street (Route 3) to stop at yard sales.
The planning board addressed the topic briefly during its May meeting, and in June it received comments from Brian Mank, co-owner of Christy Donahue Real Estate along King Street.
Meeting minutes show that he complained about a property across the street from his business, where the owner held numerous yard and barn sales.
“Mail isn’t being delivered because of the cones put out. They deal with ‘time of the essence’ contracts and earnest money deposits which can potentially prevent buyers from getting a house if mail isn’t delivered on time,” minutes read.
The property in question, 145 King Street, is owned by George Vinciguerra, according to New Hampshire property tax records. The Monitor was unsuccessful in reaching Vinciguerra despite several attempts to contact him at his property and over the phone.
Seen from the road last week, the property had a clearly visible striped yellow tent, its sides covered by a blue tarp. Behind was a large yellow barn, with a sign reading “Odds and Ends” over the doorway.
Two sandwich boards with posters reading “Garage Sale” sat in front of the tent. Last Wednesday, they held up a yellow chain, barring visitors from walking any closer.
The sandwich boards indicated that on the days the yard sale was open, visitors should park in Vinciguerra’s adjacent field.
Alan Hardy, planning and community development director for Boscawen, said the selectmen met with Vinciguerra, who received site plan approval for holding his yard sales.
Like everyone else in Boscawen come Aug. 1, however, Vinciguerra will only be allowed to hold three yard sales per year. The new ordinance indicates that after successful application for permits from a code enforcement officer, residents can hold up to three, three-day sales between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. each calendar year.
The ordinance was adopted the week after a public hearing on the subject, on July 6. Meeting minutes show the hearing lasted seven minutes, with no input from any non-town official members of the public.
One request was voiced by planning board Chairman Bruce Crawford, who asked that yard sale holders be required to remove signs at the end of the sale.
“As this is our first draft of the yard sale ordinance,” Hardy wrote in an email last week, “I suspect that the board will make refinements to the ordinance as we move forward.”
(Elodie Reed can be reached at 369-3306, ereed@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @elodie_reed.)