City Orders Flagpole Removal

Ed Evans wanted to express his love of country by flying Old Glory in his parkway at the corner of Olive Avenue, between 9th Street and G Avenue.

Little did he know it wasn't allowed, and that someone would complain.

He had just created a garden for his 7-year-old daughter and decided to put the flagpole among the sunflowers, watermelons, bell peppers and zucchinis. He installed a solar light, so he didn’t have to take the flag down at night fall.

He chose the parkway because his front yard is riddled with tree roots.  "I couldn’t get a spade in there, much less plant anything,” he said.  

“Everyone loved it,” Evans continued. One man stopped and gave Evans a Gadsden flag, with the familiar “Don't Tread on Me” insignia. “I flew it to honor the Navy,” he said of the the yellow-backed flag that has long been associated with the Navy.

But one person didn't love it, told the city, and officials ordered him to take the pole down.

“It’s a real shame that someone would complain to the city about an American flag,” said a neighbor, Mike Napolitano.

Evans was surprised. He had seen flags in parkways in other cities, including his hometown of Philadelphia.  “I didn’t think it was a big deal,” he said

In Coronado, however, parkways are city property. If he wanted to keep the flagpole he had to ask the City Council for an encroachment permit. He filed the papers, paid the $180 fee and the matter was placed on the August 16 council agenda.  

But he backed down after receiving a call from city officials. “We told him that we could not support his request and that it would go to the council with a negative recommendation,” said Ed Walton, city engineer.

Rather than press his luck, Evans agreed to withdraw his request and the city returned the fee. “It wasn’t worth the trouble. This is a big hubbub over nothing,” he said.

He has decided to have a crew remove the roots from his front yard. Once it’s landscaped he plans to raise the flag again, this time on his own property.