Oversized Flag Decision Deferred Until May

A decision on whether a Libertyville resident can install an 80-foot flagpole has been delayed until spring.

After a lengthy discussion at the recent village board meeting, Roch Tranel, president of The Tranel Financial Group, 1509 N. Milwaukee Ave., requested the village to delay making a decision until May.

“I want to give the village trustees an opportunity to see the flag at different height and the best time to do that, of course, is when there’s some leafs on the tree,” Tranel said. “I am willing to be flexible, but the purpose behind the 80 feet is so that it would pop over the tree line, which is 70 feet.”

The village’s current code allows for a 45-feet flagpole in the C-3 commercial district, and does not regulate the content. Tranel hopes the village will amend the ordinance to allow for a taller flagpole.

“Once we get boom truck out there and the village officials and trustees see that, 80 feet really isn’t that high, it’s only 10 feet above the tree line, I think they would be more amicable to work and look at the 80 feet.”

Several Libertyville residents voiced their support for Tranel at the meeting, such as Eric Cima, who cited how the flag inspired the American anthem and represents a beacon of hope.

“I love the flag at the dealership in Green Oaks and I think putting that flag at the northern end of Libertyville and having one on the south end in Green Oaks, it would be a complimentary bookend to let everyone know that they are in Libertyville,” Cima told board members at the meeting.

Some residents, however, say the flag would be a nuisance in an area already crowded with traffic.

 “That particular intersection is tough, you’ve got a fire station … and you have people coming out from Adler, then you have his business already with a kind of a busy sign there, and there is already an American flag there,” said Libertyville resident Ana Draa. “What concerns me is that by adding a bigger, larger flag there that you are going to create a nuisance that will actually be a hazard for people driving down Milwaukee Avenue.”

Draa says she knows Tranel is doing this for patriotic reasons but says, ““I struggle greatly with the size of the flag having anything to do with your patriotism.”

She believes there are other ways to show patriotism than just raising an oversized flag.

“Don’t we also show our patriotism by choosing to live within the rules of the village that we choose to live in?” Draa said.

Draa told Patch that she attended the meeting because she was concerned potential litigation could arise from the flag debate.

In 2008, Tranel sued the village when it rejected his request for an electronic message board in front of business. The sign was later permitted with restrictions as part of a settlement.

“I had already read about the lawsuit over the electronic sign back when that happened and it caught my eye that he was coming back, again wanting an exception,” Draa said.

When asked if he would sue the village again over the flagpole issue, Tranel replied: “I feel very strongly that we will be able to work something out, if both parties work in the spirit of cooperation. There’s no reason that we have to get to that level.”