Greenville council denies text amendment sought after Camping World erected oversized American flag

Greenville City Council on March 13 voted 4-2 to deny a proposed amendment to the city’s sign ordinance that would have legalized a 3,200-square-foot U.S. flag and a tall flagpole at the Camping World property on Evan Street.

Council members who opposed the amendment said the company had broken city rules, acted in bad faith on permit paperwork and created a public-safety and community-standards problem by erecting the flag before obtaining the required approvals.

The denial follows months of vocal public comment and two Planning & Zoning votes: a unanimous P&Z recommendation to deny the original Camping World request and a subsequent motion from P&Z to recommend a more restrictive maximum size. Staff presented a compromise text amendment that limited the change to “official government flags,” required one flag per qualifying nonresidential parcel of at least five acres, added setbacks and required both building and zoning permits. The council ultimately rejected that compromise and left the existing ordinance in place.

Why it matters: Supporters of the denial said approving the change would reward a company that, in staff’s account, submitted misleading permit information, failed to pay most fines assessed for the…