Virginia Iraq Veteran Keeps Flag Up

Iraq vet defies homeowners association, refuses to take down flag
WISHTV.com
Liz Palka
Published: June 10, 2015

Congress passed the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act in 2005. The legislation gives an individual the right to fly the American flag, despite a community’s restrictions. However, the bill does give a homeowner’s association the ability to restrict “time, place, or manner of displaying the flag.”

SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Suffolk man refuses to take down his American flag, despite a homeowner’s association asking him to do so.

“This is something that shouldn’t be happening here in Hampton Roads,” Daniel Toner said.

Toner rents his home in Suffolk’s Belmont Park. He told 24-Hour News 8’s sister station WAVY he was aware the community had regulations regarding flags. He said he reached out to property management, Chesapeake Bay Management, Inc., to inquire about the regulations.

Toner has an email from the property manager saying he was allowed to fly a flag off his porch, if he followed guidelines. On Monday, he received another letter from the property manager.

“Then I got that letter in the mail saying that I had to take it down until they passed a resolution saying it was okay to have a flag holder on the front of your house,” Toner said.

In the letter, property manager Kimberly Katz said she misspoke in the earlier email and the flag holder resolution has not been adopted yet. She asked him to take it down until the resolution was officially adopted. Katz said a resolution is expected to be adopted in July.
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