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The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
A Franklin man is asking the city to reconsider a zoning ordinance that he allegedly violated after being cited for displaying too many flags in his front yard.
Duane Charlton currently has seven flags that neatly line the curb of his home on Birchwood Circle in Franklin, along with two additional flag poles that hold two flags each. He has lived in this home for almost thirty years.
The majority of the flags are American flags. Charlton says he displays the flags to show his patriotism, as well as his support for first responders and members of the armed forces.
“The United States of America, no matter what, is still the greatest country, in my opinion, in the entire world,” Charlton told WKRN. “This flag is my [contribution] to the soldiers that did die, and my freedom means a lot to me, and a lot of people don’t understand what that flag stands for.”
According to Charlton, he received a notice from city officials on August 22. That notice informed him that a new zoning ordinance that went into effect in July limited him to only three flags on display.
After refusing to remove any of his flags, Charlton was issued a citation. A court date was set for October 3.
Charlton says he does not intend to remove any of the flags unless he is forced to do so.
“I don’t think I’m wrong in my beliefs, and I’m going to fight until they tell me I can’t,” he stated.
More than 70 of Charlton’s neighbors have already signed a petition that he started, showing their support and noting that the city council needs to reconsider the new ordinance.
“It’s not a matter of supporting him. This is a fundamental thing that connects all of us,” said neighbor Roger Conatser. “Let’s dismiss this for now, let the city council have an opportunity to rethink this, put a hold on any future enforcement of this ordinance until the city council has some time to reflect on it.”
Charlton is hopeful that they can come to a resolution on the matter, “or there’s an exception to the rule that the American flag should fly no matter how many they want to fly.”
He has asked neighbors who would like to support him to communicate with their aldermen and to be present outside the Franklin City Hall at 7:30 am on October 3 for his scheduled court appearance.
4 Responses
WOW! How cool is this patriot! A real HERO here at home, fighting local government oversight and all the hypocrits on BOMA….they (everyone of them, and I know them all) “say” they support freedom when they are on the campaign trail…they all “say” they are for ‘less government’ and regulation, but this is proof that at some point, most politicians turn on their instincts, because they listen to the BUREACRATS and TINKERING BIG GOVERNMENT employees on the great ‘benefits’ of BIG GOVERNMENT REGULATION! Seems to me they LOSE common sense, opting for regulations from a few elite ruling class members that think they know best. It is unfortunately, they do have much of a spine to fight back!
The proper respect for our national symbol should require the authorities to immediately rethink this, with an exclusion for our national pride expressed through the display of our commonly held pride of our nation and our flag. Coming from Nashville Local government it is no surprise they lack the respect and decency for their citizens or nation, considering their pandering to the left and radical DEI theory. I pray the courts uphold this man’s right to display his USA flags at his home and embrace it. Another shameful act of Nashville’s leadership, in the spirit of their party, the democrats. People who tend to totalitarianism , racism, socialistic, sexual deviant and morally bankrupt opinions, all collude together to form the modern democrat party, it certainly seems. If you don’t belong to one of those categories , you should seriously consider walking away from the democrats, like Kennedy or Gabbard.
Franklin is controlled by RINO’s.
Persecution by dimmercraps/RINOs.