Stupid: Missouri city gets tough on selling Girl Scout cookies on front lawn

Via CBS St. Louis:

HAZELWOOD, Mo. (KMOX/AP) – The city of Hazelwood says they do support the Girl Scouts but not when they are violating the home occupancy code.

They’d been warned, but the city says the Girl Scouts Abigail and Caitlin Mills continued to sell Girl Scout cookies from a stand in front of their home. A neighbor complained anonymously because of all the people and the traffic and the dogs barking at all the people and the traffic.

“Based on this complaint, the city of Hazelwood had to take action,” says spokesman Tim Davidson. He says it is also against city code to sell products from home.

And while he has heard some complaints from residents that Hazelwood is being too harsh on the teens, Davidson says others have pointed out that one tenet of the Girl Scouts is good citizenship.

“The fact that we did have this code in place, it’s the responsibility of every good citizen to respect the laws that we have,” said Davidson.

But the girls’ mother, Carolyn Mills, is vowing to let them keep selling their cookies, until they reach their goal of 2,000 purchases.

She says the cookie stand is equally important as a learning opportunity. “This is teaching leadership, communication, entrepreneurship,” Mills explains. “They’re getting to know the value of money, and how to keep people from ripping you off.”

Mills says the cookie stand has been a six year tradition, that started by chance. “We were parked in the driveway, counting the cookies in the back of the van, when suddenly a car pulled up and the driver asked if we had any extras,” explained Mills. “And then another car pulled up. And another.”

I could think of much, much worse things people could be doing/selling in their front yards, but maybe that’s just me …

As a sidenote, I’m curious to know as to whether or not they allow yard sales there? If you’re not allowed to “sell products from home”, it makes you wonder.

Phineas butts in: I just love these martinet bureaucrats who like to ruin kids’ fun. Here’s one from last summer, when Multnomah County, Oregon, bureaucrats shut down a little girl’s lemonade stand because she didn’t have a proper (and expensive) license. ST covered it, here.

Carlos says:

March 25, 2011 at 3:33 pm

Having been a guvmint enforcement bureaucrat in a past life, I can tell you there are many bureau-lumps who relish the idea of “showing those people they can’t break our rules!”

Common sense has nothing to do with it. Just an attitude from the bureaucrats that the government is the source of all good things (including rights), but you have to go unquestioningly along with them to keep those rights.

And I wonder how many drug houses Hazelwood has received complaints about in the past 12 months and haven’t done a thing about?

Or how many requests for protection from stalkers, but have told the requester that they can’t do anything about it until the stalker “does something illegal?”

Just curious.

Old Goat says:

March 25, 2011 at 7:05 pm

I can appreciate there being local ordinance that restrict sales, but shouldn’t there be some thought process that would look at things differently for a non-profit organization fund raiser?

I guess she should be glad she wasn’t selling lemonade.

Karma says:

March 26, 2011 at 10:10 am

Lord, I hate “one-size-fits-none” bureaucracy.

Carlos:

One of the things I’ve noticed, though, is that these kinds of bureau-cops are all about enforcement as long as the rules apply to someone else.

:-?
— k

Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup » Pirate's Cove says:

March 27, 2011 at 10:46 am

[…] Sister Toldjah brings the latest in the war against….Girl Scouts? […]

Dan says:

March 27, 2011 at 2:30 pm

This is disgusting and more proof that we need to fight the Obama-nanny state.

CHOW says:

March 28, 2011 at 4:39 pm

In defense of the city of hazelwood [I used to live there, my sister still does] the town has been in decline for several years now. Often people put anything and everything in their front yards and allow it to be an eyesore. Sure a girl scout cookie stand [especially being that it is, one presumes, temporary.] is not quite an eyesore. But their are quite a few probs in that community. For instance, there is more then one home who used to have a never ending ongoing yard sale. It is these types of nuisance activities that allow for the depreciation of property values and increase petty crime as well as drug dealing. The ordinance which regulates the sale of goods and services on the front lawn has to be administered equally and without prejudice, or else there is the potential for a lawsuit. Their is nothing that says the girls cannot sell door to door and such. Just that they cannot sit on their front yard and hawk their products.