Turtles cause flap for flag at Key park

Laurin Goldner was driving on Gulf of Mexico Drive just before Memorial Day when she noticed that the American flag at Bicentennial Park at Longboat Key Town Hall was flying in the dark.

“I thought that the light had burned out and that Public Works could replace the light bulb,” Goldner said.

She emailed Longboat Key Public Works Director Juan Florensa, who told her that the flag was not flying unlit but that staff had lowered the flag because the lighting wasn’t turtle-friendly.

The light that illuminated the flag cast a light onto the beach across the street, which is prohibited by town ordinance during turtle-nesting season, which runs from May to November. Lights that are visible on the beach can disorient nesting female turtles and hatchlings. According to the U.S. Flag Code, any flag flown at dark must be illuminated. So, staff members lowered the flag to ensure that it would not be displayed improperly.

Goldner suggested that staff members could raise the flag in the morning and lower it at night, but Florensa said that sending an employee to the park twice a day would be difficult.

“We don’t have the resources to send someone to raise and lower the flag every day,” Florensa said, noting that his department has lost three or four employees in recent years. He also said that the Town Hall flag flies 24/7 but is somewhat “buffered” by Bicentennial Park and is not as visible from the road.

But the Bicentennial Park flag, which flies over a memorial that was dedicated to veterans in 2008, is flying again, thanks to turtle-friendly lighting that Public Works staff purchased. The town initially installed a red gel screen over the light but found it still cast light onto the beach. On Tuesday, staff put a red cover over the light, which Florensa said should properly shield from the beach.

Goldner said she was pleased with the quick response that she got from Florensa, who responded to her concerns over Memorial Day weekend, and his department. But she is disappointed that for three weeks, the park was without a flag.

“We went through Memorial Day weekend without a flag at our park and memorial,” she said.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].