Confederate flag still flying on I-85 as Spartanburg County lawsuit awaits hearing

Five months after being raised, the Confederate flag is still flying atop a 120-foot flagpole along Interstate 85 as a lawsuit works its way through the courts in Spartanburg County.

"We expect when we have our day in court the land use decision will be overturned," said Spartanburg County Councilman Monier Abusaft. "Nobody's going to go in there guns blazing and yank the flag down. We'll let it work through the process."

On Feb. 28, the Spartanburg County Board of Zoning Appeals voted 5-3 to overturn the Planning Department's notice that the flagpole was in violation because a permit was not obtained before erecting it.

The notice was sent on Nov. 10 to the Adam Washington Ballenger Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 68, with the county claiming the group failed to apply for a permit before erecting the flagpole.

The group raised the Naval Jack flag on Oct. 22 at its property on Teaberry Road, which fronts I-85 near U.S. Highway 221 and Business 85.

A lawsuit filed by the SCV in Common Pleas Court against the county seeks to declare the flagpole as legal and end the county's attempts to require permits.

The SCV claims the flagpole is in compliance with the county's zoning laws and should be grandfathered from any new regulations. In part, the lawsuit claims free speech protections because the county only sought the flagpole to be removed after objections to the flag's content were raised.

A settlement hearing between the SCV and the county is scheduled for June 27. In the meantime, the 30-by-50-foot flag is still flying, seen by an estimated 80,400 vehicles a day that pass that location on I-85.

Sons of Confederate Veterans attorney Josh Hawkins said he hopes a settlement can be reached with the county recognizing the flagpole as legal and the flag as free speech protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

In the meantime, he said there are no plans to lower the Confederate flag.

"There's no reason we would take it down – not just the Confederate battle flag, but for our ability to display any flag, whether it be the Betsy Ross flag or current U.S. flag."

Angela Geter, one of three Board of Zoning Appeals members who voted in the minority to uphold the county's notice of violation, said she doesn't believe it is a free speech issue.

"The objection is to the existence of the pole itself," she said. "I believe it was a violation of the ordinance regardless of which flag is flown. Freedom of speech does not allow anyone to disregard the law."

Nonetheless, both Abusaft and Geter said the flag is offensive and unwelcoming to visitors.

"Even if one could try to separate it from slavery, which we know you can't do, how does one justify wanting to fly a flag that tried to tear the country apart and call it patriotism?" Geter said.

Chuck Turner, attorney for the county, previously said he could not comment on a pending legal matter, but said, "We look forward to presenting our case to the court when a hearing is scheduled."

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Confederate flag still flies on I-85 as Spartanburg suit is pending