Minutes 03-20-2018 - Laserfiche WebLink

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11 The UDO has existing content-neutral provisions that regulate flags as banners and signs, however, in the past there have been no complaints involving flags that have created an enforcement situation in Orange County. In order to clarify for the public that flags and flagpoles are reasonably regulated in Orange County, it may be necessary to amend the UDO in a content neutral manner to expressly set out regulations that apply to flags and flagpoles while continuing to enforce the existing UDO language as it may apply to flags and flagpoles. In consideration of this, the Planning Director has initiated a text amendment to the UDO, specifically to adopt regulations governing the height, location, and number of flagpoles as well as the allowable size of flags. For more information please refer to Attachment 1. John Roberts said the community has expressed a desire for additional language in the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) regarding flags. He said the current UDO is content neutral, but it needs to be made clearer. He said any amendments would apply to all content universally. He said the U.S. and N.C. constitutions both protect free expression, and the Board of County Commissioners has a long history supporting this also. He said this issue needs to be approached very carefully, and be limited to the question of size only. He said if the Board of County Commissioners wants to go forward, the Planning Department has outlined how staff will proceed, which will go before the Planning Board, and then to public hearing. PUBLIC COMMENT: Ivy Barger read a statement, on behalf of Hillsborough Progressives Taking Action (HPTA), which was written by Heather Reading. She said First Amendment rights are critical, however are not immune to regulation, and content neutral language protects this. She said HPTA supports this proposal, and any symbol of white supremacy has no place in our community. Grace Barger said she attends college out of town, but Hillsborough is her home. She said she was part of the Hate Free Schools Coalition at Cedar Ridge High School, and others tried to intimidate this group’s actions about limitations on clothing. She said white supremacist messages cannot be so prominently displayed. Chuck Willingham said one of the first t-shirts he saw after joining the Hate Free Schools Coalition last year challenged him to review history, and he took the challenge to review confederate history. He said his parents did not teach him that if one believes that races are equal, then racial disparities must be the result of racial discrimination. He said, in essence, race is an outcome throughout our society, and the Confederate flag is a symbol of that. He said Swastikas no longer fly in Germany, or the Rhodesian flag in South Africa. He said the Confederate flag should no longer be allowed in the United States. Hillary MacKenzie said she has lived in Orange County her entire life, and most people felt being racist was terrible when she was growing up. She said raising a giant confederate flag that reflects and promotes intimidation does not seem to represent the Orange County she knows. She said any sign of this scale does not seem in keeping with the small town values she grew up with, and she hopes the Board can find a way to preserve free speech but limit the size of these flags. Maya Little said she is a resident of Carrboro. She said that the confederate flag was not popular until the 1950’s, under Jim Crow, when white supremacists used it to threaten and intimidate, and police accompanied Blacks. She said churches were bombed, and people humiliated, in places where these flags were used. She said the flag is used to intimidate people of color, and promotes an atypical history of the civil war. She said freedom of speech is important, but so is freedom from racial harassment and intimidation.