ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A first of its kind in the nation lawsuit is filed in St. Louis County, defending the right of two sisters to sell Girl Scout cookies from a stand in front of their house.

The Mills sisters — 16-year old Caitlin and 14-year old Abigail — are suing the city of Hazelwood,  which shut down their girl scout cookie stand, because it was considered a violation of local occupancy code.

The girl’s are represented by attorney Dave Roland with The Freedom Center of Missouri.    Roland says the suit seeks a declaratory judgement — no cash — just a ruling on whether cities have a right to tell a property owner they can’t have a cookie stand. 

“It’s time that there was a case that addresses the question, because it keeps popping up,”  Roland said, “We’re trying to find out what can you do on your property without the government’s permission.”

Roland says the Girl Scouts organization is not involved in the suit. 

The city of Hazelwood says they do support the Girl Scouts but not when they are violating the home occupancy code.  A neighbor complained anonymously about dogs barking at all the people and the traffic.

The sisters say they had sold some 1,700 boxes of cookies this year before they were shut down. 

“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.

Copyright KMOX.

(Copyright KMOX)