Orange County NC Website
APPROVED 5/4/16 <br />5 <br />words, displays, or characters. So you can’t have the adult cabaret or .. that has suggestive descriptive sign. You can 214 <br />still have that regulation because there are actually court cases that say, you have the right as a community to not 215 <br />allow this. We’re still allowing you to have your sign, but you can’t have lewd or lascivious displays or characters. 216 <br /> 217 <br />Michael Harvey continued presentation. 218 <br /> 219 <br />Craig Benedict: What could be an issue is you have the flag exemptions. If somebody flies a confederate flag, that’s 220 <br />not listed. 221 <br /> 222 <br />Michael Harvey: Flags are the one issue that James and I are having a lot of… Craig is referring to page 36… 223 <br />problems with. Currently this proposal says United States, State of North Carolina, Orange County flags are exempt 224 <br />from regulations. It used to say flags, emblems or insignia of any national, state, or political subdivision. I don’t 225 <br />consider the confederate flag to be a sign, I consider it to be a flag, I don’t think it’s an advertising material and I don’t 226 <br />think it’s necessarily regulated by the sign ordinance. Whether or not I think the sign should or shouldn’t be flown is a 227 <br />different discussion. But, this is where we get into a content problem. What happens when McDonalds has a 500 228 <br />square foot flag that just has the big M on it? If you’re exempting flags… If the whole goal of the sign ordinance is to 229 <br />say everyone is going to be operating from the same page in terms of allowable signage you do have to draw the line 230 <br />somewhere. And what constitutes advertising and what doesn’t. 231 <br /> 232 <br />Tony Blake: Why can’t you regulate the size of the flag? 233 <br /> 234 <br />Michael Harvey: You could probably establish a regulation that says flags only of this size… 235 <br /> 236 <br />Tony Blake: Because over a certain size they do become an advertisement. They’re a focal point. 237 <br /> 238 <br />Michael Harvey: But I also would argue that if you say it’s 32 square feet of flag, why can’t I be patriotic and have a 239 <br />64 square foot American flag. Why are you limiting my ability to fly a larger American flag? And then I lose the court 240 <br />case on a totally different issue. 241 <br /> 242 <br />James Lea: Not to mention in a residential area. Can residents fly flags? If so, how big, what kind? 243 <br /> 244 <br />Lisa Stuckey: Also, you could have 22 flags. That’s a sign. 245 <br /> 246 <br />Michael Harvey: Again, I don’t think that… You have a banner that has a kitten hanging from a tree in your garden, 247 <br />should I count that? I don’t think I should. 248 <br /> 249 <br />Paul Guthrie: I think limiting what you do with flags is probably a good idea. Because, for instance, you tell the 250 <br />counsel general or Guatemala that he can’t fly the Guatemalan flag outside the consulate general’s office. Of course 251 <br />not. 252 <br /> 253 <br />Michael Harvey: Well that’s a good example but it’s a good example for a different reason. I would argue that when 254 <br />you have an embassy that’s not technically regulated under local law anyway. It’s covered in a diplomatic immunity. 255 <br /> 256 <br />Paul Guthrie: It’s immunity there but what do you say to a Quebec citizen who lives in Orange County and flies the 257 <br />Quebec Flag? What do you say to them? The only thing you can do is you’re using content as the basis for your 258 <br />regulation. 259 <br /> 260 <br />Kim Piracci: This is related to a question that keeps running through my head. Is there ever a problem with 261 <br />differentiating art and signage? 262 <br /> 263 <br />Michael Harvey: I’m sure that there could be. What is it? If you have a piece of art that’s meant to convey an 264 <br />advertising message, that’s content, what’s the purpose and intent of the structure? That’s where we always get into 265 <br />a foul area of what do you do? And on page 36, you’ll notice we’ve added the golden arches. The golden arches at 266