This is a follow up on Monday's story of veteran,
Jack McIntosh's, ongoing battle with the Harrison Woods HOA to be
allowed to continue to fly his American flag on his flag pole as he has
for the last two years.
I must start with a correction from Monday's
story. The section of the law I reported that included,
(2) Regulating the size and location of
flagpoles on which flags are displayed,
except that these provisions must not
prevent the installation of at least one
flagpole per property that:
Is not actually part of the law. It was an amendment offered to
the law that was ultimately not adopted with the law. This
however changes nothing in the ongoing process. There shouldn't
need to be any laws required to allow someone to fly their
American Flag as they see fit. |
Since Monday's story, the support for Mr. McIntosh has been
unbelievable. The idea that a property owner could be denied such a
simple right, just strikes a cord with a lot of folks, as it should. The
HOA manager, Hank Fennell,
continues to claim that it's not the flag he objects to, it's the flag
pole. But of course, it's hard to have a flag without a pole. Below are
our most recent exchanges.
From:
Hank Fennell
Removed at the request of Hank Fennell
To: sarahlccom@aol.com
Cc: keeblerbb@icloud.com Jim Calloway
jc77082@hotmail.com>
Sent: Mon, May 29, 2023 10:27 am
Subject: Re: Flag At 563 Yellowstone Lane Lenoir
City
Good morning Van,
Thank you for sending me these
laws for reference. I have
reviewed them, and they both
provide the association the
right to enforce reasonable
rules and regulations regarding
the placement and manner for
display of the flag.
To my knowledge, the Harrison
Woods HOA association has never
been averse to Jack flying the
American flag. The issue is that
the flag is on a flag pole in
his front yard that has not been
approved by the association. The
pole is an improvement to the
property and is supposed to be
reviewed and approved by the
association. The pole is the
issue, not the flag itself.
If Jack wants to attach a flag
to his home, he's more than
welcome to do that, but the pole
remains unapproved and need to
come down.
Mr. Fennell,
_______________________________________________________________________________
Mr. Fennell,
Thank you for your reply.
However, any laws not
withstanding, the idea that Mr.
McIntosh's flag pole is an
"improvement" to his property,
as defined, and requires
approval by anybody is a bit of
a stretch. The pole is not a
permanent structure and can
easily be moved or removed
when needed. The
covenants are completely silent
on the matter of a flag pole.
It's also my
understanding that the flag
pole has been in place for
two years, why is it
suddenly a problem? Did
someone complain? Is it
suddenly a danger to others?
Your first
letter to Mr. McIntosh
stated that "Perhaps the
ACC would approve the
placing of the flag on a
mount attached to your home.
You are welcome to ask them
about that"
Your latest letters states, "If
Jack wants to attach a flag
to his home, he's more than
welcome to do that". So
it sounds like you/the board
have a lot of flexibility in
making decisions.
You've
mentioned in both letters
now that Mr. McIntosh did
not get permission from the
board to put up his flag
pole. Are you suggesting
that had he asked the board
for permission, he could be
allowed to have the flag
pole? Is the only reason he
is being ordered to remove
the flag pole because he
didn't get permission first?
Going
forward, if the HOA
doesn't want stand alone
flag poles to display
the American Flag, that
should be clearly
defined in the
covenants.
Mr.
McIntosh has enormous
support in this matter
and I would again ask
you and the board to
reconsider allowing Jack
to continue flying his
flag as he wishes.
Van
Shaver
__________________________________________________________________________________
As you can see,
Hank Fennell is
sticking to his guns and demanding Mr. McIntosh take down
his flag pole, flag and all. As I understand the line up,
Harrison Woods has an HOA, not sure how many members. They
in turn have hired the Fennell Property Management to manage
the affairs of the HOA. I have no contact information on the
actual HOA members, just Mr. Fennell.
Mr. McIntosh has
said with all the support he has received, he doesn't intend
to take his flag down.
It's just possible
that Hank Fennell, being a Knoxville resident, just doesn't
understand how serious and important this issue is to a lot
of people. Maybe if more people contacted him, he might
better understand. If you feel moved to contact Mr. Fennell,
please be respectful but help him understand how important
this is. Someone posted, if you don't stand for something,
you fall for everything.
Hank Fennell email
address: Removed at the request of Hank Fennell
Phone Number:
Removed at the request of Hank Fennell
Because Mr.
McIntosh is now under a financial threat from Hank
Fennell/The HOA, a GO FUND ME page has been established if
needed.
Click Here For Go Fund Me Page
I will continue to
update as we go.
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