Not only can the "God

bless America" banner stay up, but Fayetteville city officials have

withdrawn the citation that had been issued to the furniture store owner

who declined to take it down.

The city will also display

its own super-sized "Fayetteville Celebrates America" banner

at the front of City Hall.

At a special meeting Thursday,

the city council unanimously approved a temporary sign ordinance that

allows businesses and home owners to display non-commercial banners until

Sept. 11 with a special permit. The ordinance was made retroactive so

the city could withdraw the citation, said City Manager Joe Morton.

Not only is the city going

to allow non-commercial banners until Sept. 11, but it is undertaking

a campaign called "Fayetteville Celebrates America" to enhance

patriotism while remembering the men and women overseas fighting the war

on terrorism.

The campaign was the idea of

Fayetteville real estate broker Lane Brown, who sold the city on the campaign,

which will wrap up at the concert of country artist Sara Evans at the

Villages Amphitheater Sept. 11 in what is expected to be a very patriotic

show.

Eddie Crumpton of Crumpton's

Furniture was issued the ticket in January after another person complained

about the "God bless America" banner when a city officials asked

that person to take down a temporary sign. The sign, which was 40 sq.

ft. larger than allowed and technically should have been up for a maximum

of 60 total days went up immediately after the terrorist attacks of Sept.

11, 2001.

Ronnie Crumpton, who runs the

store with his brother, said he was overwhelmed by the city's plan

to make the issue into a campaign to increase patriotism in the area.

"It's more than anybody

could ever have hoped for," Crumpton said. "I think it's

great the city will do this to support the troops."

Crumpton lauded the city's

leadership on the issue and said he never intended to do anything to hurt

the city. He also said the campaign encouraging businesses and homeowners

to erect patriotic signs "will be a lot of fun."

"It's very gratifying

that something like this can come from standing up for the people who

are over there now," he said.

The store had received numerous

calls and faxes in support of its stance to leave the banner up after

the citation was issued. Some city officials felt the city was vilified

for its actions, despite the fact that the banner remained up for over

two years until someone complained about it.

Mayor Ken Steele said he was

excited about the campaign and he looked forward to getting more input

from the public on special events and local businesses stepping forward

to help the celebration.

"I think it's a good

idea to revitalize a sense of patriotism periodically," Steele said.

"We want what's best for the City of Fayetteville both short

term and long term. We have a great community here in Fayetteville."

Steele said he never doubted

there would be a reasonable resolution to the differences between the

city and Crumpton's Furniture. He just wasn't sure what it was.

That's where Brown came

in. Brown said the idea came to him after he watched the issue covered

on the Fox News Channel show "Hannity and Colmes." He felt Fayetteville

officials were made out to be the villains of the story even though they

were just enforcing the sign ordinance on the books.

He also didn't want the

rest of the country thinking Fayetteville was anti-God and anti-patriotism.

Brown envisions all the businesses

near Crumpton's on Ga. Highway 85 having patriotic banners.

"Maybe people would see

than and say, 'Hey, Fayetteville's trying to say something,'"

Brown said.

The city plans to tie the patriotism

campaign into the Memorial Day concert with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra

as well as a four-day celebration in July.

The Crumptons and Brown have

agreed to serve on the committee that will steer the patriotism campaign.

The city wants to add a cross section of individuals representing businesses,

individual citizens, service organizations, churches, schools and others

to develop the action plan.

The temporary sign ordinance

lasts through Sept. 11. It allows businesses to erect non-commercial signs

up to 100 sq. ft. and homeowners to display signs up to 50 sq. ft.

Although the city will still

require a permit to be issued for each sign, the permit will be free of

charge.

The ordinance was made retroactive

to Sept. 11, 2001, the date of the terrorist attacks that killed thousands

of people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania when several commercial

airline flights were turned into missiles aimed at the Pentagon and the

World Trade Center.

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