Residents offer diverse views on flag restrictions

A flag in a residential neighborhood in Annandale.

At a Fairfax County Planning Commission hearing on proposed zoning changes for flags and flagpoles, residents presented a wide range of reasons why flags, in general, should be restricted even more and why American flags should be exempt. 

The planning staff proposed these changes:

• The height of a flagpole would be limited to 25 feet for a lot with a single-family house and 60 feet in other locations. Currently, there is no height limit.
• There would be a limit of two flags on a single-family lot and three flags for other uses. The current rules allow up to three flags per lot. There would be no limit on small “garden flags.” 
• The size of flags would be limited to 24 square feet on a single-family lot and 96 square feet on other properties.

The Planning Commission is scheduled to make a decision on the flag regulations Feb. 24 when it also is scheduled to vote on the huge Zoning Ordinance rewrite known as zMOD. 

Flags at the cannon in central Annandale.

Several people raised questions about the types of flags allowed, wondering whether the rules would permit Confederate flags, QAnon flags, or the flags of unfavorable countries like North Korea. 

Zoning Administrator Leslie Johnson said the government can’t regulate the content of signs, as they are considered free speech and thus protected under the First Amendment, according to the 2015 Supreme Court ruling in Reed v. Gilbert. 

Related story: Zoning change proposed for flagpoles

Flags are considered signs and thus covered in that ruling, Johnson said, so that’s why the county wants to put a limit on the size, height, and number of flags. People who have a complaint are advised to contact the Department of Code Compliance. 

People who testified at the hearing in favor of more limits on flags raised these issues: 

• Fran Wallingford of Mantua questioned why every home needs two flagpoles, noting that would add more visual clutter and distract drivers. She wondered whether flagpoles could have surveillance cameras, lights, or be rented for commercial uses, such as a 5G antenna. 
• Clyde Miller of Mason District said all flags in residential neighborhoods should be limited in residential areas, not just those on residential lots. Allowing taller flagpoles on commercially zoned lots in neighborhoods would “disfigure residential uses with a vulgar display,” he said.
• A couple of members of the Hunter Mill Defense League, a group advocating for maintaining Hunter Mill Road as a scenic, historic, and tranquil byway, want flagpoles banned along that corridor. 

Related story: Planning Commission to vote on zMOD next week

William Denk of Great Falls wants to continue flying the casket flags for his relatives who were veterans. Those flags are 50 square feet, and “the American flag means a lot to veterans,” he said. 

Robert Maggi of Clifton, also a veteran, said American flags should be exempt because they are not the same as a car dealer flag or happy springtime flags. 

Commissioner Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner (Providence) said, “I hope we can find a way to exempt American flags, as they’re not comparable to any other flag.”