Homeowners' association gives Draper man permission to fly flag

The American flag hanging above the front door of Kevin Capito's Draper townhouse won't be coming down anytime soon.

The Air Force veteran's battle with his homeowners' association over whether he can continue to fly the flag on the outside of his home ended Wednesday when he received a letter of permission from the association's property-management company.

"The letter said I'm free to leave it up if I accept all liability for any damage to the outside of the townhouse," Capito said Friday.

In honor of Capito's victory, local Boy Scouts tomorrow morning will be placing temporary flags in the front yard of all 68 units of Village Townhomes. The flags will be there from sunrise until sunset, Capito said.

"It's just a way of letting everyone in our community know that they can fly an American flag now if they choose to," he said.

The flag on Capito's home on Pepi Band Lane became the subject of controversy in March, shortly after he mounted the flag holder to the townhouse and began flying the standard 3-by-5 flag.

Capito said he started receiving letters and phone calls from Community Management, which manages the property, informing him that the external mounting violated homeowners'-association regulations and ordering him to take the flag down.

A Community Management employee said the communications with Capito about removing the flag had nothing to do with the flag itself, but the mounting that was placed on the townhome without the association board's permission.

Capito said he wasn't aware that he needed permission to fly the American flag, citing the federal "Freedom to Display the American Flag Act" passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush last summer.

The law prohibits homeowners' associations and other real-estate associations or management companies from prohibiting proper displays or uses of the flag, which includes mounting it on a 45-degree angle on the front of a building, as Capito's is.

Capito said the letter from the Community Management only addresses his property, and the homeowners' association has not come out and given a blanket approval for other homeowners in the townhouse complex to fly the American flag.

Still, Capito considers his victory to be one for his neighbors, as well.

"I figure if enough people in the community want to fly an American flag, it's going to be hard for the HOA to say no at this point," he said.

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E-mail: jpage@desnews.com