Ahead of July 4th, La Quinta homeowner reflects on fight against HOA to keep up American flag

LA QUINTA, Calif. (KESQ) - It's been over 20 years since La Quinta resident Richard Birdsall fought his homeowner's association to keep up a 22-foot flag pole and American flag.

This Fourth of July, Birdsall says he's proud of his fight to fly the nation's flag, which he first raised after September 11, 2001. But 6 months later, Birdsall says he received a call from his HOA telling him to take it down, per their guidelines.

"I get the call, take it down. I tell them, I'm not taking it down. Well, if you don't take it down, we're going to take you to court. I said, you do what you gotta do, and I'll do what I have to do. So, the fight was on," he said.

From there, he took his fight to state legislators, who passed Senate Bill 2032 in 2032 on January 1, 2003, prohibiting homeowners' associations restrictions on flags.

"We had the news media here, NBC, CBS. We had them all here. The Boy Scouts helped me dedicate the flag. I've been flying it ever since," Birdsall said.

As America celebrates it's 250th birthday, Birdsall says it's more important now than ever.

"I was never in the service, but all my brothers were. I had three brothers and they were all in the military. I just felt that, you know, this flag means freedom to all of us," he said.

It comes as other homeowners complain of similar restrictions across California, specifically in San Diego's San Marcos neighborhood.

His message to them? Keep fighting to fly the flag.

"Definitely. In fact, there were a lot of people who lived in gated communities after we had won, they called and said, we thank you very much for doing what you did. We get to fly our flag, too," Birdsall said.

More than 2 decades after the fight, Birdsall says he'll spend the fourth with his flag and family he loves.