BARTLETT, Tenn. — The city of Bartlett is backing off taking one of its residents to court over his LGBTQ+ Pride Month decorations.
The homeowner was originally cited by code enforcement for violating the city's sign ordinance. However, after public scrutiny on social media, the Mayor of Bartlett said the city took another look at things.
"I really didn’t expect it to turn into what it did," said homeowner Nick Toombs.
Toombs is relieved his Pride decorations will be staying up until the end up of the month. Toombs said he had no idea when he went public on social media with his code enforcement problem so many people would support him.
Thursday, Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald told Local 24 News the decorations violated the city's sign ordinance.
As of Friday, McDonald said they were no longer taking Toombs to court and would be tweaking the sign ordinance, because it was vague.
"We looked to see if this was easily understood and it was not. It’s not laid out in a way I think it would be easy to understand," said Mayor McDonald.
McDonald said he also plans to look at the issue of inflatables, because as Toombs pointed out, they are common around not just Christmas, but many holidays throughout the year.
Toombs said he felt he was being targeted because he is gay. McDonald said that was not the case. Code enforcement went to his house after receiving a complaint.
"This stuff. We react to complaints, and we got at least one complaint out of the neighborhood," said McDonald.
"Some things are just bigger than me. This is about more than me not putting this up in my yard. It’s about everybody else that code enforcement and Mayor McDonald are going to push and prod until they get their way," Said Toombs.
McDonald said he is required to uphold city, state, and federal laws.
Toombs said while it's a relief he won't be taken to court, he wonders how this would have ended without the public support.
"I’m trying not to be bitter about anything, but I’m still slightly disappointed it took crazy public opinion to shame them into doing what was right to begin with," said Toombs.