Posted on 08/28/2010 3:46:26 AM PDT by GonzoII
CANTON, Ga. - Ron Tripodo has lived in Canton's Bridgemill subdivision for two years. For most of that time he has been involved in a flagpole fight. The 16-foot tall fixture hasn't flown well with the Bridgemill Homeowners Association.
"I got a letter saying, 'Take your flag down. You can put it in your backyard' and I just refused to do it," Tripodo.
Tripodo, a former Army Reservist, maintains that the flag belongs in a prominent place.
Tripodo's HOA then filed a lawsuit and called the flagpole an obstruction. The homeowner's association sued Tripodo for $25 each day the flag flew in the front yard. The fees now total $32,000.
Tripodo admitted that he signed the covenant but that he believed the 2006 Freedom to Display the American Flag Act superseded subdivision rules.
"That's why I didn't even ask for permission because I knew the law," said Tripodo.
This week, a year and a half after the flag flap started, a Cherokee County judge agreed with Tripodo and denied the suit.
"Hooray! Today I won. I wish I didn't have to go through all this aggravation, but I was going to defend this flag all the way," Tripodo said.
(Excerpt) Read more at myfoxatlanta.com ...
Mike
Yippee! I am glad that an agent of Satan(and that is what HOA’s have become)was slapped down. Thank you for the good news post to start my morning!
If someone in the USA is offended by a proper display of the Flag, then that person doesn't belong in this country.
Look at all the stories of parents of soldiers who were sent to Iraq, Afghanistan and were flying Old Glory to honor their child while IN COUNTRY, these jerk HOA busybodies forcing them to take it down. Outrageous!!
The latest 8"X11" printout currently says;
There is no empirical evidence obama is American.
obama small o, American capped.
Honestly, I think this is what became of all those children who refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance in school when they were growing up.
His next door neighbor is an attorney and did the case for nothing, but in a round about way, the HOA fees were used to hire the legal team for them. So in essence, every resident in the HOA should be up in arms for them wasting their money.
We've been in a HOA since 1978 with NO PROBLEMS, okay there was one. But anywho, there's a Packet everyone gets with the HOA bylaws before you close on the house.
If you sign, you agree - period.
And if you want a waiver for something, you go to the board meeting, simple as that.
cheers
Or, you cite a law that supersedes the HOA reg, take it to court, and win. OK by me.
He knew there was a higher law so he ignored the other..that’s how I see it.
Freedom should not require a waiver. QED!! Trading a right for a “By your leave permission slip” leads to slavery. We traded our right to carry under the 1876 Texas Constitution for a mess of pottage CCP. The lege restored this right last year with no mass conflicts.
barbra ann
The thing is no HOA can 'Ban' display the of the US Flag, that's the Law.
But as to how it's displayed, they CAN and legally do have a say. And a 16' ft tall Flag Pole wouldn't sit well, not with me either (who knows what other type of Flag he or someone else would fly?). Plus, they have 12' high Flag Poles that you can install and would bother nobody. I've looked into getting one of those myself.
This story sounds like he wanted to push some buttons from the beginning.
I thought HOA’s hung out on street corners!
Nobody took this guys 'Freedom'. When he bought this house 2 years ago he KNEW the HOA bylaws. That's mandatory before closing.
So he had the 'Freedom' to not buy where there's a HOA with rules he doesn't like. He had the 'Freedom' to go to the Board and seek a waiver. And he has the Freedom to MOVE where there is no HOA.
In effect what this guy did was infringe on the Freedom of others who WANT to abide with the HOA bylaws.
It's like that old saying: Your Freedom of expression ('speech') ENDS at my nose (or vise-versa).
Too many people do not know that as a juror you have rights and no judge is ever going to tell you that.
The Citizen’s Handbook
True. They do.
And one hangs out in the White House too.
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