Recreational vehicle retailer Camping World is telling a California county to go pound sand after local officials told an outlet to take down a massive American flag.
The company is known for the proud display of Old Glory at over 250 locations across the country and the only place that there has been an issue is in San Joaquin County where Camping World was told that the flag must come down due to safety reasons and not having a permit,” Sacramento’s Fox 40 reported.
“Camping World’s flagpole was installed with neither a building permit nor planning approval, therefore they are in conversation with the code enforcement division,” the county told the outlet in a statement.
(Video Credit: Fox 40)
The flag was taken down in April after the county demanded that it be removed from the French Camp dealership on Interstate 5 outside of Stockton. According to the county, the problem wasn’t with the flag itself but that it was a safety issue with the pole’s foundation and the closeness to the highway if it were to fall over.
But it is now back up after Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis found out about it and balked at the order, instructing the location to raise the stars and stripes this week.
“If we felt like we were putting people in danger or causing any issues with air traffic, which would absolutely not be okay, then I wouldn’t do it,” he told Fox 40.“It’s symbolism about how we feel about this country. We have a lot of veterans who work for us, and a lot of veterans who shop with us.”
“I happen to be an immigrant. I was given the blessing of being able to enter this country and become a citizen, and I’m grateful for it, and it’s been part of my life since I was a little child down in Miami, Florida where we had the largest flag pole in Miami at our car dealership,” Lemonis said.
After the story began to draw national attention, the county said in a statement the pole exceeded the permissible height without a building permit but denied that they told Camping World to take the flag itself down, saying that a permit would be issued on Thursday, according to Fox Business.
“The 2022 California Building Code adopted by San Joaquin County requires a building permit for a flagpole over a certain height,” the statement said. “The Camping World flagpole is 130 feet in height, and therefore requires approval by the Zoning Administrator and a building permit.”
“Due to the proximity of the pole to Interstate 5, the San Joaquin County Community Development Department (CDD) consulted with Caltrans regarding concerns that if the pole fell it could land in the CalTrans right of way for Interstate 5. Based on that the Zoning Administrator and Building Official have reviewed the site plan and engineered plans for the flagpole, CDD recently made the determination that the flagpole may be permitted, and a building permit will be issued today, August 8, 2024,” the county stated.
“At no time did CDD staff instruct Camping World to remove the flag. The issue has been solely with the height of the flagpole. CDD is working closely with Camping World to issue the appropriate permit so the flagpole can remain safely and legally pursuant to state and county law,” according to the statement.
“This is a marketing opportunity for Camping World,” said San Joaquin County Supervisor Tom Patti in an email to The Los Angeles Times. “Camping World has a habit of installing flagpoles that are quite large in size, but they do it without pulling permits on numerous occasions.”
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