Edmonton Man Forced to End Never-Ending Garage Sale
The house hosting a never-ending garage sale in the McKernan neighbourhood of Edmonton was finally forced to shut down last week after receiving a court order to clean up his property.
For months, Matthew Peter had been using his front yard as a place to sell second-hand goods he retrieved as part of his junk removal business.
Neighbours lodged several complaints with the city regarding Peter’s junk-strewn property, stating it was an eyesore to passersby.
"People are seeing it every day and they think, 'Oh well, that's a dumpy community if they can allow things like that’,” said Hilary Grey, a community resident.
The city stated that Peter had been using his home as a business and that his property was in poor condition, both issues were in contravention of city bylaws.
"It's very clear that the yard sale, because of the length, the duration, was a business," reported Ryan Pleckaitis, City of Edmonton director of complaints and investigations.
Home-based businesses also require additional insurance; it is unclear whether Peter had this coverage while operating his garage sale.
As for Peter, he initially swore to fight the complaints for years if it came to that point but he ultimately relented after an appearance before the city’s Subdivision and Development Appeal Board.
While he wouldn’t comment on the decision to shut down his garage sale, he was positive about the experience.
"People came out, they had a lot of fun in the open air ... and a lot of people found a lot of unique knick knacks and treasures for themselves," he said.
"So, I think it was amazing success story and I'd like to thank all Edmontonians.”
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