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Camping World Location In Greenville, North Carolina, Fined Multiple Times For Flying American Flag That Didn’t Meet City Code

Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis did not back down when one of his locations was fined for flying a large American flag.

WITN reports that the Camping World location in Greenville, North Carolina, started racking up fines in mid-January. The reason? The large flagpole and flag displayed on the property did not meet the city code.

WITN states that Camping World was fined $50 on its first citation and $100 on its second. Each citation after that resulted in a $250 fine. Camping World received six citations overall, totaling $1,150 in fines.

Camping World’s Greenville location displays the American flag on a 120-foot flagpole. Both the flag and the pole are larger than the city code permits.

As WITN explains, the flag itself is 15 times larger than the allowed limit on a non-residential property in Greenville. The city code states that a flagpole can’t exceed 70 feet, but Camping World’s pole is 50 feet taller.

Lemonis stood up against the city in a post on X (formerly Twitter). He wrote, “The flag is not coming down. You can fine me all you want.” He included the hashtag “#NoAmericanFlagIsTooBig.“

The flag is not coming down.
You can fine me all you want
City of Greenville North Carolina. @CampingWorld #NoAmericanFlagIsTooBig pic.twitter.com/p0ujZBntty

— Marcus Lemonis (@marcuslemonis) January 23, 2025

Camping World Scores A Victory

According to WITN, the Greenville city council originally denied a request from Camping World permitting them to fly the flag. The council said, “…the company put it up knowingly in violation of the regulations regarding the size of the pole and the size of the flag.” The city also asked for the flagpole to be removed.

However, in an update published on January 25, WITN reported that the city council changed its mind.

Greenville mayor PJ Connelly said the city council voted unanimously to develop an ordinance allowing Camping World to keep its American flag on display as-is. KATV added in its own report that the city did not take Camping World to court to have the fines paid.

Lemonis celebrated the victory on X, writing, “Thank you @GreenvilleNC
for your reconsideration. We are all grateful. #BestFlagEver.”

Thank you @GreenvilleNC for your reconsideration.
We are all grateful. #BestFlagEver pic.twitter.com/Tz5xrxF56Z

— Marcus Lemonis (@marcuslemonis) January 26, 2025

This is not the first time Camping World has battled over the display of an American flag. In 2019, another North Carolina location was sued for displaying a flag larger than permitted. The company paid $11,000 in fines to settle the issue.

Also, a Camping World location in the California city of French Camp was involved in a year-long legal skirmish over its 130-foot flagpole. The location had to take the flag down for a period but was eventually able to fly it again.

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