Wednesday, January 28, 2004
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Wednesday, January 28, 2004 |
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Crumptons still face F’ville court date for ‘God bless America’ banner By JOHN MUNFORD The “God Bless America” banner at Crumpton’s Furniture in Fayetteville remained on display Tuesday afternoon, as store owners Eddie and Ronnie Crumpton pondered the corner they’d been painted into. City officials say the 90-foot banner must come down because the furniture store didn’t get an appropriate permit. As far as city code enforcers are concerned, the banner, no matter what’s written on it, is just another nonconforming sign. Then there are Crumpton’s customers like the woman flipping through a catalog last week who overheard the brothers talking about perhaps taking the banner down, bowing to the city’s demand. “She said, ‘You can’t take that banner down. My husband’s still over there (in Iraq) and he needs to know he’s still supported,’” Ronnie Crumpton said. The Crumptons insist they will eventually do “what’s right.” As soon as they figure out just what that is. It could mean they will take the sign down at some point in the future. Eddie Crumpton received a citation from the city last week, charging him with displaying a temporary sign without city approval. He has a court date of March 15, and he potentially faces up to a $1,000 fine and perhaps some jail time for failing to remove the offending banner. “We just want them to change the law,” Eddie Crumpton said. He hopes the City Council will approve a variance to allow the sign to stay up as-is. City officials told the Crumptons Monday they could incorporate “God bless America” into a new permanent wall or ground sign. “I don’t want it to look like advertising,” Eddie Crumpton lamented. “That’s not what it was put up there for,” Ronnie Crumpton added. The “God bless America” banner went up at Crumpton’s Furniture on Ga. Highway 85 North, the city’s main thoroughfare, after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but not because it was good for business, Ronnie Crumpton said. “We didn’t put it up to be politically correct. We put it up because it was what we felt,” he added. “... The country was in a real sad state and we felt the only way we could come out of it was with God.” The sentiment has been hanging from the store’s awning area ever since, save for five minutes when the original sign, which had become worn, was replaced with a new one, the Crumptons said. A former city employee once told Eddie Crumpton there was no way the city “would even touch” the “God bless America” sign. The sign has been up for roughly 28 months, and city officials were prompted to investigate after a complaint from another business owner who was forced to take down a temporary banner, Eddie Crumpton said. The city has not issued any more citations against the business for the sign violation, said City Manager Joe Morton. Morton and Mayor Ken Steele met with Crumpton Monday, explaining several options that would allow the company to have a “God bless America” sign and stay in compliance with the city’s sign ordinance. “We told them we want to help them out any way we can within the confines of the sign ordinance,” Morton said, adding, “Nothing has been decided yet.” If Crumpton’s were to apply for a sign variance, the issue might not be heard by the City Council until its Feb. 19 meeting, Morton indicated. No further action can be taken until the Crumptons get back with the city, Morton added. City officials contend they cannot turn a blind eye to the sign because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that local governments cannot regulate the content of signs. If this were about a sale sign advertising anniversary or holiday specials, the Crumptons say they would have no problem removing it. But this isn’t just about business, they say: It’s about supporting the country and those who are fighting for our freedoms abroad. “There should be a way for us to keep that sign,” Ronnie Crumpton said. If the shoe were on the other foot, and the city was fighting for its right to display a “God bless America” sign, “We would be fighting right there with them,” Ronnie Crumpton added. In the meantime, while they appreciate citizens who have called City Hall to complain, the Crumptons want the calls to stop. “We don’t want people calling City Hall and disrupting the work of the city,” Ronnie Crumpton said. “That’s detrimental to the city of Fayetteville.”
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