| Issue #30, October 20, 2006 |
FLY THE FLAG, BUT NOT A REAL BIG ONE PLEASE
By Robin Nader
On October 24th the Southampton Town Board will vote to determine whether to remove the two-flag limit on American flags that was part of a plan two years ago to restrict outdoor advertising in Southampton. Although the code created two years ago did not apply to homeowners, it was meant to eliminate unnecessary distractions. Personally, as lovely as all the farm stands are, pumpkins, scarecrows, coffee signs, clothing hanging on the sidewalk and just the gorgeous outfits that adorn the men and women walking down the sidewalks, I have turned my head often enough that on occasion I have had to hit my brakes pretty quick to avoid hitting the car in front of me.
The authorities say that it was an accident that the American flag was included as just another outdoor sign in the revision two years ago, but one wonders how that could have been an accident if it was actually defined by size and number of flags? It was questioned by a councilwoman at the time, asking, would they ticket someone for being extra patriotic? One politician said his biggest objection is that we have businesses that will fly the flag to attract attention. Steven Kenny seems to be the only member that still supports it and Supervisor Patrick Heaney, the town supervisor said he could have voted no two years ago, but had supported the bulk of the law and so voted to approve it. Well, it is nice to not have huge signs and advertisements glaring at you out here but some are quite upset by this code and they would be our Veterans. They showed up at the town meeting last week in protest of the ordinance. They showed up in full regalia saying that no one knew about this before it was put through two years ago. One Vietnam veteran said they didn’t know about the code until it was passed and that is why nothing has been said until now. But there were complaints at the time from merchants and veteran groups and the board agreed not to enforce the flag part of the code. They wanted to give businesses that had spent thousands of dollars on their flags the ability to take advantage of their investments. The town argued that the restrictions were necessary to eliminate distractions, so it seems that there was an awareness of this issue when it was passed two years ago. Some feel that in the new world after 9/11 we are more patriotic and should have the right to be so, and thus fly as many flags as we want to. After two years of an ordinance which has basically never been obeyed or enforced it will probably be banished. Come to think of it, who would imagine that the American flag would be under scrutiny? Signs, signs, signs flapping, waving, flashing, blinking everywhere on every topic but red, white and blue is too much?
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