The Brookstone Farms Homeowners Association in Peachtree City, Georgia, fined 71-year-old widow Carol Ann Kessler $9,400 last week over a 20-foot flagpole her late husband installed to honor his Army service.
The Brookstone Farms Homeowners Association board voted September 2 to uphold the fine against Kessler, a resident of the subdivision for 22 years. Board president Daryl Fentress signed the violation notice, citing a covenant limiting 'freestanding structures' to 15 feet without prior architectural approval. Kessler's flagpole, installed in 2021, stands 20 feet.
The fine breaks down to $200 a month in accrued penalties dating back to a June 2025 notice, plus a $1,000 'non-compliance administrative fee' the board added in July. Kessler says she never received the June letter, which the HOA's own records show was mailed to a unit two doors down.
"My husband put that pole up two months before he died. I'm not taking it down for a fine I never even got notice of."— Carol Ann Kessler, homeowner
The pole nobody measured
Kessler, a retired schoolteacher, says the pole honors her husband Ray, a Vietnam veteran who died in August 2021. She installed a plaque at its base with his unit number. The HOA's violation letter makes no mention of the flag itself, only the structure's height.
Records obtained from the HOA's own architectural review file show the board approved a 22-foot decorative lamppost for a different homeowner on the same street in 2023 — two feet taller than Kessler's pole — with no fine attached. The approval letter for that lamppost cost the applicant $75 in filing fees.
Georgia's Property Owners' Association Act allows HOAs to fine for covenant violations, but requires documented notice. State law also exempts flagpoles displaying the U.S. flag from most height restrictions when erected by a veteran or veteran's family member.
The exemption nobody applied
Attorney Melissa Grover, who took Kessler's case pro bono through a local veterans' legal aid clinic, filed a formal appeal with the HOA board on September 4, citing the state exemption. 'The board either didn't know the law or didn't care to look it up before mailing a bill,' Grover said.
The HOA board has scheduled a special session for September 22 to review the appeal. Fentress did not respond to phone messages seeking comment. Until then, the $9,400 fine remains on Kessler's account, accruing at $200 a month.
The flag is still flying at 20 feet.
Man ARRESTED Riding Lawn Mower On Interstate
Only In America
A Florida man is facing charges after Highway Patrol troopers say he drove a riding lawn mower down the shoulder of Interstate 10 near Lake City for roughly four miles on the afternoon of September 3.
Troopers say 44-year-old Dwayne Kessler — no relation to the Georgia case — was clocked doing 11 miles per hour in the emergency lane with a cooler strapped to the mower's rear deck. He told troopers he was headed to a friend's house because his truck 'wouldn't start.'
Kessler was charged with reckless operation of a vehicle and driving without a valid license, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. The mower, a green riding model with a Confederate-flag seat cover, was towed. Troopers noted in their report that the cooler contained ice and one unopened can of sweet tea.