As much as I detest the draconian ways of most homeowners associations and as much as I sympathize and would like to side with Richard Wentz, in this case I am regretfully coming down on the side of the association. To its credit, Wentz's association allows the American flag to be flown, something many others prohibit. And since the 9/11 flag is faded, it would detract from the community aesthetics that maintain property values.
NEIGHBORS TO RETIRED COP: ‘NO 9/11 FLAG’
Homeowners association told Richard Wentz, who assisted at Ground Zero, that flag ‘detracts from aesthetic harmony’
PoliceOne.com
November 21, 2011
NEW YORK — A retired New York police officer was asked by his homeowner's association to take down a commemorative 9/11 flag.
Two flags — the American flag and the 9/11 Flag of Honor, faded and embroidered with victims' names — fly outside the home of Richard Wentz, according to Fox News. An ordinance says residents are only allowed to display one flag, and that it must be the American flag.
Wentz assisted at Ground Zero by pulling people out of Tower 1 before it collapsed, he said, and he has cancer thought to be from exposure to toxins at the site.
Some residents say he should be allowed to keep the flag.
"I think he deserves to have a flag up there. What he went through, I think it's an honor," one woman said.
According to a letter from the association, the flag detracts from the aesthetic harmony of the neighborhood. Wentz has 10 days to remove it before possible legal action is taken.
"I will not take that flag down," Wentz said. "That flag will remain up. I don't care how many fines they want to give me, how many notices they want to give me, I refuse to take that down."
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