By: Sharon Aron Baron
Today my seven-year-old daughter has been getting her first lesson in sales and in the power of what bitter neighbors can do.
Today my daughter and I set up her Girl Scout Cookie stand outside our house. She dressed up in her uniform after school and helped with signs that were posted on Woodlands Blvd to let people know that she was selling cookies since we’re pretty far back into the Woodlands. Proceeds go to her local Sunrise troop which doesn’t have a lot of money for activities and field trips. Besides the fact that my daughter went door to door securing over 50 pre-sales, I picked up an additional 100 boxes to help the troop.
We set up the cookie stand at 4:45 and at 4:55 we put up the three signs. At 4:57 pm, I received a phone call from a Section 5 resident, who is also the president of a real estate company (which, incidentally, has “for sale” signs on properties throughout the Woodlands) She asked me who put the signs up. I didn’t deny that we put them up. She explained that we aren’t allowed to have signs in the Woodlands. I told her this was for Girl Scouts and I would be picking them up shortly. I told her if she had a problem, she could report me to the city of Tamarac. Ten minutes later, a BSO officer pulls up in front of our cookie stand and tells me and my daughter that someone called and we couldn’t have signs. I told him I would be picking them up at 5:45 pm. After making a few sales from neighbors that stopped by, we promptly picked up the signs at 5:45 with BSO watching. A fine use of BSO’s time and energy!
Shortly after, I also received an email from the Architectural Committee Chair, who must have had this “Architectural Emergency” reported to her. She wrote: “…I could have taken down the signs in accordance with our overlays, obviously you did not have permission from us nor the city to put them up.”
Permission? Like in a written permission slip?
It’s a cookie stand.
Has it been so long that these women ever had a lemonade stand? Do people know what it’s like to have children? Surely, this Section 5 resident, who owns a real estate company and sells the Woodlands to families would be a little sensitive to people who are doing things such as these for children. If we do not keep the Woodlands an attractive community for families, who is going to buy here?
I decided to take this matter to a higher authority. Jennifer Bramley, who is Director of Community Development and oversees code compliance for the City of Tamarac, and had a saner take on the matter, “I think it’s just fine if a girl scout puts up a sign, especially if she makes sure she takes it down.”
Last year, I spoke with her when I wanted to put up a sign advertising our section meeting. The Section 5 resident was adamant that the city would not allow signs. The city, however, told me that certain signs were fine. Just use your best judgment and make sure the sign gets picked up promptly after the event. Imagine that! The city even has common sense!
What about “Lost Dog” or “Found Dog” signs or birthday party signs. How about political signs? Oh yes, let’s not forget our security signs in front of our lawns. What about Real Estate signs? Of course, these are acceptable neighborhood signs and are up for a far longer duration than the one hour these girl scout cookie signs would have been up.
Yet somehow these cookie sale signs drew the ire of a few, petty residents with obviously some axe to grind with me and this website. We need some members on our board and our committees that don’t call BSO and waste their time for small issues such as this.
