The Orange City Council is set to vote Tuesday to ban parking along two highways
at the site of the Confederate Flag Memorial owned by the Sons of Confederate
Veterans. Police Chief Lane Martin in a memo said “I believe that persons
visiting the site would potentially create traffic related issues and safety
issues by parking on the side of the road.” He said the Texas Department of
Transportation will post the signs, if the council approves the resolution.
The chief proposes to put up “No Parking” signs along Martin Luther King Jr.
Drive on the east side of the memorial from Bancroft Road south to North Lutcher
Drive. Lutcher Drive is the Interstate 10 access road. In addition, he wants put
the signs on Lutcher Drive. Chief Martin said the interstate access road does
not have a shoulder to allow parking and cars would park in the traffic lane.
Part of the MLK Drive has a narrow, eight-foot shoulder and tapers off to no
shoulder.
In addition, the two sides have drainage ditches along them that will make
walking to the memorial difficult. The one on MLK Drive is full of three-foot
tall cattail reeds. Chief Martin said parking will be available on 41st Street.
That section runs from Bancroft Road to the interstate 10 access road drainage
ditch.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans received a city building permit in January
2013. A concrete circular design with 13 Grecian-style columns has been
constructed, but nothing else has been done. The plan, according to an SCV
flyer, says the memorial will have will have up to 33 flags, including ones from
all states in the former confederacy.
In a phone call, Marshall Davis, spokesman for the SCV Texas Division, said
there is “nothing new” being built at the memorial. The group has no timeline
for the completion and a dedication ceremony. He said work is done “as funds
become available.”
Granvel Block of Orange, a former commander of the Texas Division of the SCV,
bought the 0.45 acre of land for $10,000 in 2010 in the name of the
organization, according to the Orange County Appraisal District. The tax bill
goes to the national organization. The land is triangular shaped.
After the building permit was issued, the Orange City Council unanimously passed
a resolution restricting the size of flags and flagpoles that could be displayed
in the city limits. Giant American flags at two car dealerships are allowed
because of a grandfather clause.
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