After a Hazelwood resident complained, Hazelwood forced a neighborhood Girl Scout cookie stand to close. A lawsuit was filed against the city and has since gained national and media attention.

Hazelwood residents Abigail and Caitlyn Mills have pleaded for a license to sell cookies since the complaint was filed. When their request was denied, the sisters asked their family to sue, claiming that besides the city’s pride, Hazelwood has no reason to enforce the ordinance.

“They are only doing this because they don’t want to admit that they are wrong; it’s not fair, selling Girl Scout cookies is meant to build character. They [Hazelwood] make it seem like a crime,” junior Julia Tsuchiya-Mayhew said.

Hazelwood representatives said that the family was warned about the city code on home occupancy, which states that there can be no entrepreneurship if it causes undue stress on the neighborhood. However, selling Girl Scout cookies had never been a problem before the complaint against the Mills sisters.

In an interview with the New York Times August 15, Mills said that Hazelwood representatives told her that if the incident involving their neighbor’s filed complaint had not occurred, the rules against the cookie stand would not have been enforced.

Many citizens of Hazelwood are disturbed at the new development. Mills and her children said that although their street was busy, the traffic was never uncontrollable. After hearing about the incident, philanthropist George Hutchins bought 36 boxes of cookies from the Girl Scout troop and asked for one free box to be delivered to the neighbor who had filed the complaint, with a note reading ‘Have a nice day. Sorry for all your troubles.’

Although the situation was internally resolved, Hazelwood still refuses to give the sisters the privilege of selling cookies in their neighborhood. City representatives say that they support the Girl Scout organization, but will not make an exception for the sisters to break the city’s law.

“Any occupation, profession or activity that is customary, carried on by family [is permitted] which does not alter the exterior of the property or affect the residential character of the neighborhood and no unusual traffic is generated,” Communications Director Tim Davidson said.

Some scouts do not take the same position as the Mills. Ladue junior and member of senior Girl Scout troop 990 since kindergarten, Olivia Jaeger takes the side of the city.

“Its probably better that they are enforcing the law. I think it is a lot easier to keep in track of the money if the troop leader is in charge of setting up where they sell the cookies. It should be at a public place like a Schnucks,” Jaeger said.

Developments in the case between the Mills Family and the city of Hazelwood continue, as neither side backing down. #