DEADWOOD — A business owner in Deadwood is upset about a city rule that classifies American flags as signs and requires special permission for flags larger than 24 square feet.
Hotel and casino owner Mike Gustafson applied in July for a permit to hang a 375-square-foot flag on his building in the western South Dakota city during the annual motorcycle rally in nearby Sturgis.
The City Commission approved the request but required that the large flag be removed after the conclusion of the weeklong rally, the Black Hills Pioneer reported (http://bit.ly/1foCSQC ).
“The sign ordinance defines signage and what signs are,” said Deadwood Building Inspector Keith Umenthum. “Flags are considered signs, but there are exceptions for signs that don’t require a permit.”
However, Gustafson, who wanted to display the 15-by-25-foot flag for 90 days, needed a permit to hang the flag for a longer period, and city officials denied that request. Planning and zoning commission members cited a part of the ordinance that says American flags shouldn’t be used “to call attention to, decorate, mark or distinguish the building on which it is placed.” Another part of the sign ordinance also limits flags to 150 square feet.
“At 375 square feet, this is by far, the largest sign in Deadwood,” a city report said.
Gustafson said he thinks the city’s ordinance is “outdated and unpatriotic” and should be changed.
“It is a desecration of the flag of the United States of America to be classified as a ‘sign’ by the Deadwood ordinance because it is larger than 4 feet by 6 feet, especially when Deadwood is considered an ‘All American City,’” he said.
“We had nothing but praise and positive comments from visitors and Deadwood residents during the few days it was on display,” Gustafson said of his large flag.
This ordinance will fall if Gustafson pursues the issue. The principles upon which the ordinances are based are, uh, shall we say not founded in Republican dogma. That is to say it has become part of life to cloak one's business in a flag. Gustafson simply wants his part of the action. He built a business, he owns the property, he feels (with justification) that he can project the image he wants to project. If he gets compensated by having folks patronize his joint, he has been blessed by the Lord, and deservedly.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Compose a username. We will delete comments posted under the name, "Anonymous." It's tedious and boring to view comments posted under "Anonymous."
If you don't want to register with Blogger, that's fine; just click the little circle in front of "Name/URL," then write something in the box that appears. Even your actual name if you like it.
You'll also have to write in the letters/numbers that appear in the image box to prove you are human. Thanks for humoring us. The comments will be much more entertaining with a variety of user handles.
If you have trouble reading the words you have to type in before you publish comments, click the recycle button until something comes up that you can read.