City Council Seeks To Limit Garage Sales In Lakewood
The first many residents heard of the City’s idea to limit their ability to have garage sales was on the six o’clock news. It was big enough news that the all of Greater Cleveland got to hear about it, probably because so many people come to Lakewood for our great garage sales.
The restrictions proposed by Law Director Kevin Butler would restrict residents to two (2) sales a year, for two days each. They would also be barred from posting any signs except one on their own property, one day before the sale. The sign must not be posted on front porches, utility poles or public property.
Since then, many citizens have been discussing what this means, some of them on the Lakewood Observer’s message board. Lakewood resident Peter Grossetti described the committee meeting at which this was discussed: At the heart of this matter is addressing those few folks in Lakewood who essentially run a "flea market" business on their front lawns. So, instead of creating yet more laws/ordinances that, in my opinion, over regulate the harmless, time-honored yard/garage sale concept ... shouldn't existing "nuisance ordinances" be brought into play to crack down on these habitual offenders? (http://www.lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11020)
Many asked why the majority of residents in Lakewood have to be punished for the few. Councilman David Anderson, who chairs the Housing Committee which held the meeting to discuss the ordinance’s first draft, responded on the Observation Deck to say that many of the points of this ordinance are under discussion and that perhaps there should be more than two, maybe there should be four, maybe the length of time should be at its limit, Thursday through Sunday. The point was to make it possible for citizens to have garage sales, without having to suffer from neighbors who hold perpetual garage sales.(http://www.lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11017&start=15)
As for signs, there are already laws on the books making posting signs illegal. This would be the time to petition the City and ask that added to the ordinance would be making posting legal, if the signs followed specific rules, citing specific dates, times and addresses, and then were promptly removed, with the threat of a fine if they were not. This would extend to lost pet notices, and notices regarding neighborhood meetings.
The most important point made in this discussion is that both Councilman Anderson and Law Director Kevin Butler encouraged citizens to make their opinions known NOW. It is not necessary to attend a committee meeting or Council meeting if you cannot, you can email your representatives with your suggestions and questions.
Councilman Anderson has promised to keep the community updated via the Lakewood Observation Deck. He is an excellent steward of the community’s issues; make sure he (and his committee and the Council and Law Director) know how you feel.
Contact City Council: Powers- At Large (brian.powers@lakewoodoh.net); Smith- At Large (monique.smith@lakewoodoh.net); Nowlin- At Large (ryan.nowlin@lakewoodoh.net); Anderson-Ward 1(david.anderson@lakewoodoh.net); Bullock- Ward 2 (tom.bullock@lakewoodoh.net); Juris- Ward 3 (shawn.juris@lakewoodoh.net); Madigan- Ward 4 (mary.madigan@lakewoodoh.net)
Contact Law Director Butler: kevin.butler@lakewoodoh.net