HAZELWOOD, Missouri - March 24, 2011 - 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.
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, which 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. “Then another car pulled up; and another.”
