Family Sued For Displaying Flag In Support of Marine Corps Son

From the Marine Corps Times:

Homeowners group fights Marine family’s banner
By Michele Marcotte - The (Shreveport, La.) Times
Posted : Sunday May 8, 2011 12:00:29 EDT

BOSSIER CITY, La. — Jodi Burr never thought hanging a large patriotic sign in support of her son’s service in Afghanistan would violate her neighborhood covenants — much less that it would lead to legal action by her homeowner’s association.

But, she did.

And it has.

In January, following Corey Burr’s deployment to Afghanistan, Burr and her husband, Timothy, put up a large multi-colored banner with their 20-year-old son’s Marine Corps portrait and the phrase “Our son defends our freedom” in front of their south Bossier home.

The couple received a letter a month later from the Gardens of Southgate Association stating the banner was in violation of the neighborhood’s covenants. The covenants specify only real estate signs are permitted.

T.K. Mastny, association president who signed the letter, declined to comment, citing the ongoing nature of the case.

Burr drafted a response to the letter in which a meeting with the homeowners association was requested. But, she said she never received any response to her request. Instead, an association representative came to her home to discuss the violation and again request the removal of the sign. Burr informed the representative of her written response to the initial letter, and she said he assured her that he would follow up. When notices of the violation continued without any word on a possible meeting, she mailed a second letter — this time certified.

Burr continued to get notices of the violation but never received any word on meeting with the association to resolve the matter. On March 18, Burr received her final notification, but this time it came via the association’s attorney, Geoffrey Westmoreland, who informed her she had 10 days to remove the sign or litigation could ensue.

Westmoreland did not return calls seeking comment, but his office issued a statement last week pertaining to the dispute.

The statement says the board of directors, the on-site committee, which addresses covenant enforcement, and Westmoreland support the message on the sign and are thankful for Corey Burr’s service. It goes on to say that the message and its content has “nothing to do with the current legal dispute involving the sign.”

Lane Pittard, who is representing the Burr family pro bono with the assistance of Bill Kendig, said the family requested a variance to the covenants to allow them to keep the sign up for the 14 months Corey was deployed.

The association responded this week with an offer to allow a 90 percent vote to amend the covenants to permit signs. The Burrs would need 90 percent of the neighborhood vote for the covenants to be amended, he said. Burr said the developer still owns several lots and would have a 3-to-1 vote on his lots.

Jodi Burr said she did not want to accept the offer, but had not made a decision with her husband yet.