A national RV dealer is in hot water again for flying a mammoth American flag at one of its lots — and company CEO Marcus Lemonis of TV’s “The Profit’’ says this one isn’t coming down, either.
Camping World — which runs more than 250 RV dealerships across the country — raised the new gigantic flag at its Greenville, NC, location in October, according to WLBT.
Local zoning officials say the Stars and Stripes fluttering over the RVs is 15 times bigger than allowed. Even the 120-foot flagpole is too big, coming in at nearly twice the height permitted by local law.
The city started citing Camping World on Wednesday, and the penalties are racking up quickly: As of Friday, there had already been six violations that will cost about $1,150 in fines.
Lemonis said it doesn’t matter because Old Glory is not going anywhere.
“The flag is not coming down,” said the 50-year-old tycoon, whose reality show involves him investing his own money in struggling small businesses.
“You can fine me all you want City of Greenville North Carolina. #NoAmericanFlagIsTooBig,” Lemonis wrote in the social-media post.
It’s not the first time Camping World has gone to battle against local zoning laws over the American flag. In August, a dealership outside Stockton, Calif., demanded the firm take down a similarly huge banner over worries the flagpole could fall over.
Lemonis was just as obstinate then, ordering the dealer to keep it up.
“If we felt like we were putting people in danger or causing any issues with air traffic, which would absolutely not be OK, then I wouldn’t do it,” he told Fox40 at the time.
San Joaquin County officials later gave the dealership the green light to keep the flag flying, Fox 26 News said.
But Greenville has proven more forceful in its condemnations.
The City Council denied the company’s request to permit the flag earlier this month, claiming Camping World knew what it was doing when it knowingly broke the size regulations.
“Violators shall be issued a written citation which must be paid within 72 hours,” the document issuing the fine read, according to the station.
“If a person fails to pay the civil penalty within 72 hours, the city may recover the penalty together with all costs by filing a civil action in the general court of justice in the nature of a suit to collect a debt.”
City officials told Camping World they would write tickets every day the flag flies — and the flagpole must also be pulled out.
So far, the city hasn’t gone to court to collect the fines.
During the spat over the California flag last year, the Lebanon-born entrepreneur said the big banners are “symbolism about how we feel about this country. “
“I happen to be an immigrant,” he said. “I was given the blessing of being able to enter this country and become a citizen, and I’m grateful for it.”
Such expressions of patriotism “have been part of my life since I was a little child down in Miami, Florida, where we had the largest flagpole in Miami at our car dealership,” he said.
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