Off The Grid News

Cities Crack Down On Kids’ Lemonade And Cookie Stands

lemonade cookie stand cities regulations

lemonade cookie stand cities regulationsLemonade and produce stands run by kids are apparently an endangered species in much of the United States.

News reports indicate that authorities in many parts of the country are using regulations to shut down such stands. Even Girl Scout cookies have been targets of local regulators in some communities.

It’s gotten so bad that the Freedom Center of Missouri has produced a map showing the ridiculous examples, which in recent years number nearly 50.

“It never even crossed my mind that my girls might need to get permission from the city before setting up their cookie stand,” Carolyn Mills said of her daughters, who were selling Girl Scout cookies in front of their home in Hazelwood, Missouri.

Their stand was shut down in 2011 after a neighbor complained and officials found the girls didn’t have a permit. The girls had apparently been running the cookie stand in their driveway for six years when the city closed it.

“I was even more shocked when city officials told me that you couldn’t even get a permit for it,” Mills noted. She discovered the city didn’t even have permits for child businesses. Mills ended up suing the city of Hazelwood over the incident.

Kid Businesses Shut Down All Over the Country

Mills’ daughters are not alone, as young entrepreneurs all over the country have had their attempts at free enterprise closed by city regulations.

Discover The Only Way Back To True Freedom And Liberty In America…

Some of the worst incidents include:

The Freedom Center’s map is available here.

As previously reported by Off The Grid News, a girl in Illinois had her home cupcake business shut down this year because she didn’t have the necessary permits.

What Should Parents Do?

What should parents do? It might be a good idea to contact your local government and see where it stands on such child enterprises.

Government attitudes towards lemonade stands vary widely; some jurisdictions ignore them, some regulate under certain circumstances and a few prohibit them. If an official does shut down your child’s stand, complain to the media and elected officials. Elected officials often will back down in the face of bad publicity.

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