Editor's note: VPM has just been notified that the Virginia Flaggers have withdrawn their request, and the commission will NOT take a vote tonight.
Amid a public outcry against Confederate iconography, a group that formed to promote the "Lost Cause" narrative of the Civil War is seeking to install an over-sized Confederate flag in Chesterfield.
The Virginia Flaggers primarily organized in 2011 to fight the removal of a Confederate flag from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts grounds. Over the last decade, they've has put up over 30 large-scale Confederate flags near major roadways. Now they’re seeking approval for a 100-foot high flagpole and a 600-square foot flag. Because the flag pole would be the sole item on the property, it's run afoul of county zoning requirements.
The county has approved large scale flagpoles before. In 2018, supervisors approved one measuring over 200-feet tall and bearing the United States flag, because it was built on an industrial site and is not the sole object on the property.
County staff is recommending denial. The Chesterfield planning commission will vote on the matter tonight.
Tonight’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. and can be streamed on the county’s website or YouTube Channel.
