A homeowner will get to keep her “Flintstones” statues after a long battle with her town.
Florence Fang, who lives in Hillsborough, California, has been fighting her town’s planning commission since 2017, when it refused to issue work orders, SFist reported Monday. The Hillsborough Administrative Hearing Panel later ruled that her life-sized statues of Fred Flintstone and Wilma, Barney, and Betty Rubble were “eyesores.” (RELATED: Man Who Put Up Giant ‘Transformers’ Statues In Front Of His House To Neighbors Dismay Says He Will Take Battle To Court)
Hillsborough sued Fang in 2019 in an attempt to get her to take down the statues.
“You can’t let people build first and ask for permission later,” Assistant City Attorney Mark Hudak said at the time. “I sent [Fang] a letter in January, which she ignored. So we filed a lawsuit when it was clear she was not going to remove any of this work.
All I want is a peaceful, happy retired life:” Mrs Fang, owner of the iconic Flintstone house, says she plans to take action against the counter suit filed by the city of Hillsborough. pic.twitter.com/d1oLlW12f1
— Jennifer Gonzalez (@JennieGonzMedia) April 11, 2019
The town will have to pay Fang’s $125,000 legal fees.
Many cities and towns have zoning laws that prevent homeowners from making certain renovations to their houses. A Song Of Ice And Fire author George R.R. Martin was denied permission to build a model of Winterfell castle by the Santa Fe Historic District Review Board in 2020, Reason Magazine reported.
Both Fang and Hillsborough agreed to a gag order as a condition of their legal settlement, according to SFist.
“The parties have reached an amicable resolution of the case to the satisfaction of all the parties, such that the improvements made to the Flintstone House will be permitted to remain,” they said in a joint release.