The public has a chance to voice their position to Orange County Commissioners Tuesday night on possibly amending the unified development ordinance in the wake of a Confederate flag being raised on private property along a highway in the county.

Commissioners have been considering the ordinance amendment after Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County, which the Southern Poverty Law Center classifies as a hate group, raised the large Confederate flag along Highway 70 just outside Hillsborough. The group has plans to raise additional Confederate flags along major thoroughfares in the county.

Chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners Mark Dorosin said the amendment that the county is seeking to make is congruent with First Amendment rights.

“All courts in this country have said, including the Supreme Court, that local governments can impose reasonable time, place, manner restrictions on otherwise protected First Amendment speech as long as they’re content-neutral,” said Dorosin.

In other words, the county cannot ban a citizen for flying the Confederate flag on their own property, but they can limit the size of a flag and the height of a flag pole.

Dorosin said the restrictions would be no different from zoning laws and noise ordinances already in place in the county. Each municipality in Orange County already has regulations in place on the size of flags and flag poles.

“The fact is the government regulates what you do on your private property all the time,” said Dorosin. “There’s all kinds of regulations that keep you or keep your neighbor from creating a nuisance.”

The public hearing is scheduled for the Orange County Commissioners meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill. Dorosin said commissioners could possibly vote on the text amendment at the meeting.

The county released a frequently asked questions-style document regarding the proposal on its website.

Photo via Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County Facebook Page

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