Goodland Guns is set to open its doors in less than a month, while Goleta residents are still waiting to see whether the city can act to prevent the store from being next door to the preschool Here We Grow Early Learning Center.
After the Goleta City Council’s closed-session legal briefing on August 12, the city announced it will revisit its rules governing where firearm retailers can operate, but in the meantime, the controversy has raised broader questions about how the relocation was approved in the first place.
“None of the council knew anything about this,” Cty Councilmember Stuart Kasdin said. “I found out about it when there was a discussion on Nextdoor.” He learned in late July that city staff had treated the store’s relocation from Old Town Goleta as a permitting matter because existing rules did not require public notification.
According to Kasdin, city officials did not anticipate the level of community reaction which, he said, illustrated the difference between the technical requirements of the law and the broader intent behind city policies.
“There should have been some recognition that guns are not the same thing as backpacks,” Kasdin said in the meeting.
Mayor Paula Perotte became emotional when she addressed the room: “I realize that we could have done this better; we should have, and I am sorry,” she said. “I share your concerns.”
Councilmember James Kyriaco asked residents not to blame city planning staff, saying “We’re the ones who have to be accountable.”
Kyriaco also pointed to Goleta’s efforts to expand access to childcare, including easing zoning rules to expand where childcare providers could operate, and the city’s $250,000 investment in local childcare centers.
Still, residents questioned more than the store’s proximity to the preschool.
The father of two daughters, Scott Cooper, who has owned his Ellwood home for 40 years, said the decision had shaken his faith in the city’s management that approved a gun store next to a preschool and along a path used by schoolchildren without notifying the council or public.
Mary Nishimoto said neighbors learned about the approval only two weeks before the meeting.
On of the most moving moments came as Christy Zewick read a letter written by her 11-year-old daughter, Charlotte: “I’ve heard about things called school shootings, where people shoot a bunch of kids,” Charlotte wrote. “Having a gun shop next to preschool and close to an elementary school, I feel like that’s kind of just setting up for a school shooting if somebody felt like that was a really good thing to do.”
Goodland Guns owner Dan Ashton told the Independent that before he had signed a 25-year lease on the Hollister Avenue property, he had spent two years trying to relocate the store from its current address in Old Town Goleta because of rising costs and security concerns there. He said he had received city approval in June after he had followed all local codes and regulations.
In a statement posted to Goodland Guns’ website on August 14, Ashton said the federally licensed firearms dealership is “one of the most highly regulated, monitored, and physically secure commercial spaces you can have in a neighborhood” and that the business poses “zero hazard” to anyone walking by.
Ashton also charged that nearly a third of 2,022 signatures on a petition opposing the relocation came from outside the community.
At the council meeting, speakers focused their criticism on the city’s approval process, with some defending Ashton and even offering to fundraise.
“We’ll see what the implications of the new ordinance are,” Kasdin said. “The owner will have to decide if this influences his decisions. But the outcome is hard to predict right now”
The council’s next discussion on the matter has not yet been scheduled.
Jean Yamamura contributed reporting to this story.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story indicated that there was an opportunity for the community to appeal the approval of the gun store’s business license, but there are no provisions in the Goleta Municipal Code to appeal the approval of a business license.
