Washington girl’s lemonade stand shut down by city while complaints continue about homeless encampment (legal, weapons)
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Residents in Everett, Washington, have reportedly raised concerns about a nearby homeless encampment that some say received little attention from the city, while the city was quick to shut down a lemonade stand operated by a 7-year-old girl.
KING 5 reported that Elsa LaMaine, the girl, opened her small stand at a park and sold the usual drinks and flowers alongside her grandmother. Last week, a park ranger at Everett’s Rucker Hill Park and—although polite—told them that they needed to close up shop after a complaint from a neighbor. The city's rule is simple: you cannot sell products on public property.
All she'd have to do is put her hair in dreadlocks, pitch a little tent next to a grocery cart behind the lemonade table, throw a couple hypo needles on the ground around her, and she'd be golden. Free to do business, unencumbered.
Courts responsible for Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington ruled in favor of homeless people’s right to camp/ live on public property UNLESS the municipality has adequate housing tor them.
After 12 years, Boise, Idaho and other western cities gave up fighting the rulings of lower courts, when SCOTUS declined to hear their appeal.
If the girl and her grandmother can sell lemonade at the park, then someone else can set up a stand in the park and sell coffee or hot dogs. The city controls who gets permit. It's odd to sell lemonade at a park, I have never seen that. Usually it's just outside the kid's house.
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