August 30, 2026
To: The City of Goleta Mayor and City Council
From: Scott Cooper and Sheila Wiseman
Regarding: Agenda Item D.1, Discussion/Action, September 1, 2026, Goleta City Council meeting; Firearms and Ammunition Retail Sales Study
We thank the Mayor and City Council for this opportunity to provide input on the Firearms and Ammunition Retail Sales Study. We are long-time residents of Goleta and homeowners in the Ellwood area, and have raised our two children here. We would like to preface our feedback by noting that we have been very pleased with our City’s government and its many policies, actions, and initiatives. We believe that the City has undertaken many laudable efforts to help the homeless, improve Old Town, maintain our streets, manage our open spaces and parks, provide public amenities like the Community Center, and organize activities and events that bring our citizens closer together (such as the Dam Dinner, 4th of July drone show, and the Lemon Festival). We especially appreciate the approved City Creek and Watershed Management Plan and the excellent improvements to Jonny D. Wallis Park.
Given this excellent, informed stewardship of our City, we were very surprised to learn that a gun store would be located in our family-oriented neighborhood, next to a preschool and along a route frequently used by school children, without notification or allowing for public input.
We have attended a number of meetings about this issue and come to realize that, because firearms and ammunition stores have been very infrequently considered, the City used an antiquated protocol to approve the location of Goodland Guns at 7443 Hollister Avenue. Given all the controversies and events surrounding the purchase of guns in this nation, we think it is understandable that community members would be very concerned about the relocation of Goodland Guns to a residential area.
Crises often engender quick action, so we greatly appreciate the City seeking input and providing guidance that would increase gun safety and improve human health. Our input consists of a number of ordinances or requirements that would further constrain the location of gun and ammunition stores while ensuring public notification and input. These comments are prefaced by the need for the City to define gun stores as a distinctive land use, and guns and ammunition as distinctive retail items requiring rigorous restrictions. As a consequence, we recommend:
1. An ordinance prohibiting the location of gun stores in areas zoned Community Commercial, which would be consistent with the letter and spirit of the Community Commercial zoning designation. The Community Commercial zoning designation is intended to provide goods and services to the surrounding community, not to the entire Goleta or wider area, and to protect the character of the surrounding residential area, which a gun store, most assuredly, would not.
2. An ordinance creating a 1000-foot buffer zone between gun stores and sensitive areas where children aggregate, including schools, preschools, day care centers, parks, playgrounds, youth centers, religious establishments, libraries, and residential areas.
3. A requirement that all gun and ammunition stores obtain a conditional use permit, which would require public notification and input.
The excellent table of state laws and published ordinances prepared by Advance Planning Manager Anne Wells and her team for Agenda Item D.1 provides many examples and models of how other California jurisdictions have addressed these issues. Further, the City’s experience with tobacco, cannabis, liquor, and adult stores, whose retail items are less lethal than firearms, provide many other examples of restricted land uses for guiding retail firearms land uses, as discussed in Planning and Development’s report. We also note that the County of Santa Barbara, which is currently considering similar ordinances, has called for 1000-foot buffers and conditional use permits for firearms stores.
In summary, we greatly appreciate the speed with which our City government is addressing the retail firearm store location issue. We believe that our community would be safer, healthier, and have greater security if firearm stores were not located in areas zoned Community Commercial, would have 1000-foot buffers from sensitive facilities or land uses, and were required to have conditional use permits.
From: Elizabeth Reeves
To: City Clerk Group
Subject: Agenda Item 26-333
Date: Sunday, August 30, 2026 3:35:53 PM
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Goleta City Council,
In regards to the subject Agenda Item, I call upon the City of Goleta take immediate action to amend their zoning and land-use regulations governing firearm retailers to establish a minimum distance of 1,000 feet from public and private schools, preschools, child care facilities, and other youth-serving spaces, and to prohibit or restrict firearm retail locations along routes regularly traveled by children and youth to and from schools, child care facilities, and other youth serving spaces.
My hope is that this minimum distance would change the Goodland Guns location at 7443 Hollister to somewhere more reasonable. In the words of my 8 year old (who bikes to Ellwood via Hollister most weekdays), this location is "a very bad idea".
I am unfortunately, unable to attend the meeting in person this week due to a conflict with our standing PTA board meeting, but wanted to convey this sentiment as you gather inputs ahead of this week's meeting.
Thank you for continuing to operate with the safety of the children and families in our community in mind
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Reeves
Ellwood PTA VP
7204 Evanston Pl
From: Conrad Metzenberg
To: City Clerk Group
Subject: Public Comment: 9/1/26 Agenda D.1
Date: Monday, August 31, 2026 1:24:17 PM
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I am commenting today to voice my support for Goodland Guns, a small local business trying to move to a mere 3.6 miles down the street, but the spirit of my comment goes beyond this individual business. My comment is in support of free enterprise for mom-and-pop businesses, support for self-determination, support for the US constitution that gives us all the right to talk here today, support for sane law abiding citizens to exercise their 2A, and a condemnation of government overreach, onerous small business regulation and the nanny state that the city of Goleta desperately seems to want to become.
As a father of two children in the GUSD I can completely sympathize with any parent who worries for the safety of their children with regards to gun violence. I’m not going to minimize those concerns because they are valid. Per the CDC, firearms are the number one leading cause of death for adolescents in our country. A sick, pathetic, and shameful American statistic.
Goodland guns has had a storefront in Goleta since 2013. According to Rutgers University, when a gun store opens in a neighborhood, shootings increase. I suspect other commenters will mention this study. However, OT Goleta must be an outlier because, since 2013 shootings haven’t risen. Goleta’s violent crime rate sits well below the CA and US average… Rutgers study be damned. Do we really think this move 3.6 miles to an even lower crime neighborhood of Elwood will change this? Are we being rational or emotional? I have noticed a sneaking trend in government, from federal all the way down. Our varying governing bodies have become impotent in their ability to fix many of the problems facing our society; a horrendously K shaped economy, mental health, homelessness, the general evaporation of the American dream. In many cases they simply don’t have the power to fix these problems…in many cases they are the originator of these problems. So, what does a governing organization do when it can’t solve the high importance problems its constituents want it to solve? It engages in emotionally divisive identity politics. It picks issues that tickle the amygdala of the citizenry to distract them from the overdue bills, high cost of living and the depressing realization that we are an empire in decline. This is one of those issues.
So, city council of Goleta, why don’t you show us you are a serious group. Show us facts matter. Show us you support small local business. Show us you are people of rationality not emotion. …Also, I strongly encourage you all to sit down with the City Attorney’s office and explore what legal jeopardy you may ore may not being walking into.
Conrad M. Metzenberg
805.705.6202
[email protected]
From: Ellwood Mom
To: City Clerk Group
Subject: Council Meeting, Goodland Guns
Date: Monday, August 31, 2026 8:44:16 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Please enter the following in the officially recorded comments for the city council meeting being held tomorrow 9/1/26:
I call upon the City of Goleta and city council to take immediate action to amend the zoning and land-use regulations governing firearm retailers to establish a minimum distance of 1,000 feet from public and private schools, preschools, child care facilities and other youth-serving spaces, and to prohibit or restrict firearm retail locations along routes regularly traveled by children and youth to and from schools, child care facilities, and other youth serving spaces.
Thank you,
Ms. V. Boyd
Goleta Resident
From: Ellwood Mom
To: City Clerk Group
Subject: Council Meeting, Goodland Guns
Date: Monday, August 31, 2026 8:44:29 PM
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Please In tomorrow’s city council meeting, I call upon the City of Goleta and council take immediate action to amend their zoning and land-use regulations governing firearm retailers to establish a minimum distance of 1,000 feet from public and private schools, preschools, child care facilities, and other youth-serving spaces, and to prohibit or restrict firearm retail locations along routes regularly traveled by children and youth to and from schools, child care facilities, and other youth serving spaces.
Thank you,
Ms. V. Boyd
August 30, 2026 To: The City of Goleta Mayor and City Council From: Mary Nishimoto Regarding: Agenda Item D.1, Discussion/Action, September 1, 2026, Goleta City Council meeting; Firearms and Ammunition Retail Sales Study I thank the Mayor and City Council, for this opportunity to provide input on the Firearms and Ammunition Retail Sales Study. My family and I have been living in the Ellwood neighborhood for over 20 years. It truly is the best place to live. Admittedly, we have taken for granted how much we enjoy living in Goleta while feeling safe and secure. We now must rely on you, well informed by City staff and the public, to take deliberated actions to lawfully remedy the crisis at hand. I commend the City Council and the City for quickly responding to our community’s disbelief and alarm when we learned in late July 2026 that the firearms and ammunition retailer, Goodland Guns, had been lawfully issued a business permit on June 4 2026 and allowed to operate as a designated “general retail business” at 7443 Hollister Avenue without notification to the City Council or the public. The location is adjacent to a daycare center, Here We Grow Early Learning Center, and is fronted by the Hollister Avenue Class 1 bike and pedestrian path, a part of the Safe Routes to School Initiative. The two incompatible businesses are in a very small 3-parcel community commercial zone surrounded by four types of residential uses and a business park zone. The consequence of the City of Goleta having no specific zoning regulations or business license provisions regarding the retail sale of firearms and ammunitions caused the current crisis of documented and severe financial harm to the preschool due to enrollment displacement, acute emotional burden on families (and for some, financial burden), and public health and safety risks. I whole-heartedly support the City Council’s commitment to not only amend the City Code to prevent this situation from happening again, but remedy the current crisis at hand. I continue to stand with many resident neighbors and business owners who want Goodland Guns out of this sensitive area where safeguarding children and families is of utmost importance and relocated to an appropriate compatible location. Urgently, the City Council must take decisive action to require any operating firearms selling business to have stringent physical and operational security measures in place as soon as possible to maximally, as established by precedent, and lawfully mitigate the clear and present risks of theft and potential harm to the public. I commend the Staff’s expedient preparation of the report for this study session with the City Council. Staff has posed in their presentation to the Council the following questions: 1. Which locations(s) in the Goleta Municipal Code, if any, is desired for new regulations? 2. Maintain existing zones where firearms and ammunition retail uses are allowed? 3. Which sensitive uses to prioritize if any? 4. Are there desired buffer distances? 5. Include a separation standard? Higher or lower priority than sensitive use buffers? 6. Are there other specific use standards to focus on? 7. Are there operational requirements to focus on for business licenses? 8. Additional feedback. I thank the Staff for its invitation for community input, and I provide my personal perspective and comments to these questions: 1. Which locations(s) in the Goleta Municipal Code, if any, is desired for new regulations? I support the City staff’s recommendation to approach new firearms regulations by means of Title 17 land use amendments in combination with Title 5 changes addressing operational, licensing, security and similar requirements. (Page 3 of the Staff Report.) I appreciate the Staff preferring an approach that is consistent with the Goleta General Plan/Coastal Land Use Plan to avoid the need to amend the General Plan that necessarily would take more time and be procedurally more involved. However, it may be best to develop a stepwise, comprehensive, and legally-sound approach that includes a suite of actions operating on both immediate time frames and longer schedules. 2. Maintain existing zones where firearms and ammunition retail uses are allowed? I support adding a new separate retail classification for the selling of firearms and ammunition to the commercial land use regulations in Title 17 Zoning. I support the City Council moving forward to approve an emergency zoning amendment establishing a sensitive-use buffer zone separating firearm and ammunition retailers from all schools, preschools, and daycares. I support the establishment of buffers around general assembly uses (examples include but are not limited to bike and pedestrian paths, churches, dance and athletic facilities, parks, beaches and associated parking lots). Importantly, I urge the City Council to designate any existing firearms retailer within a buffer as a non-conforming use, and then apply the existing Title 17 provisions for a mandatory termination of the non-conforming use following a lawful amortization phase-out period established under Chapter 17.36 of the Goleta Municipal Code. I do not oppose firearms and ammunition retail in non-residential, non-commercial zone districts. However, I urge the City Council to require a conditional use permit for all firearms and ammunition retail applicants. 3. Which sensitive uses to prioritize if any? (1 is highest, 4 is lowest priority) 1: Daycares, schools (K-12), and youth centers; 2: Class 1 bike/pedestrian paths (a general assembly use); 3: Other general assembly uses (examples include but are not limited churches, dance and athletic facilities, parks, beaches and associated parking lots). 4: Residential High-Density zone districts. 4. Are there desired buffer distances? Use GIS spatial analysis to determine the maximum buffer distance for all high-priority sensitive use locations (preferably a minimum of 1000 feet). If prioritizing sensitive uses is necessary, determine a smaller, yet less preferred, buffer distance for Class 1 bike/pedestrian paths and other general assembly uses. I prefer the best-fit size of sensitive use buffers to be large enough to collectively exclude firearms retailers from all four commercial zones (Commercial Regional Commercial (CR), Community Commercial (CC), Old Town (OT) and General Commercial (GC); while also limiting the maximum size of a buffer distance to that which will provide firearms retailers access to only non-residential, non-commercial zone districts. 5. Include a separation standard? Higher or lower priority than sensitive use buffers? The highest priority should be the development of sensitive use buffers over separation standards. However, a separation standard between a firearms sales storefront and the following storefronts selling: alcohol, cannabis, tobacco and other adult-oriented businesses should be assessed in tandem with sensitive use buffer size. 6. Are there other specific use standards to focus on? Conditional use permits for firearms dealers/retailers and manufacturers must be a necessary requirement. Zoning standards and business license requirements should be developed in a tandem assessment to effectively and stringently regulate existing firearms retailers operating in Goleta. 7. Are there operational requirements to focus on for business licenses? New provisions to Title 5 with specific requirements for the City’s Firearms Dealer Business License are needed. I strongly urge the council to approve new stringent operational and security regulations to existing gun retailers under the city’s police power to protect public safety. Rules and provisions should be updatable in short course and enforced through the city's annual business license renewal process. An important provision is that the firearms business must carry the cost for ensuring that risks imposed on public health and safety by the establishment’s presence are mitigated to the greatest extent possible. I urge the City to be proactive in adopting a highly protective package of measures*, adopted by other cities that go above and beyond State mandates, that include and are not limited to: • Crash-rated bollards (type ASTM F2656) around exposed building perimeter to eliminate the risk of vehicle-ramming "ram-raids." • Overnight storage of all handguns and frames in highly fortified safes (type UL TL-30) that withstand continuous mechanical or electrical safecracking tool attacks for at least 30 minutes. • Ammunition inventory isolation from firearms in a designated, fire-resistant vault or locked heavy-gauge steel cabinet that requires distinct access credentials. • Motorized interlocking rolling steel shutters with impact and pry-resistant rating on ground-level windows and entrances to secure the perimeter when closed. • Redundant 24/7 Monitored Alarm Systems with dual-path communication (simultaneous encrypted internet and cellular uplinks) backed by an on-site uninterruptible power supply. • Robust security video systems with high-definition resolution for facial recognition, 24-hr interior 360o and exterior perimeter surveillance, real-time police dispatch integration, automated system-failure alerts, and fortified on-site server storage. • No Firing Ranges: Explicitly ban the physical discharge or testing of weapons on the property. • Restricted Hours: Prohibiting the store from operating during hours when children walk to and from school and late at night. • Window Display Rules: Banning the outward-facing display of weapons or tactical gear visible from the storefront sidewalk. • Minimal $1 million commercial liability insurance to ensure that the business and its insurer absorb the financial risks for city government. * Some of these measures might appropriately be regulations or standards set outside of Title 5. 8. Additional feedback. I ask the Council to ensure that regulations are enforced to safeguard the public. Firearms retailers, manufacturers, and at-home dealers must be defined as categories in the code. Each type of seller of firearms must prove they meet their category’s baselines, no exemptions, in the City Code to obtain or maintain a local business license. The baselines could include any or all of the stringent operational and security measures addressing question 7 (the list not all inclusive) that can be applied reasonably/feasibly and importantly to the greatest lawful extent possible to the category. Council can approve ordinances specifying progressive lawful inspection, monitoring and auditing tools under local municipal police powers that are needed to effectively enforce zoning ordinances and business license provisions that prevent theft and protect public health and safety. Advanced oversight provisions fall into three primary categories: 1. Law Enforcement Right-of-Entry & Physical Inspections; 2. Digital Monitoring & 24/7 "Always-On" Surveillance; 3. Daily Inventory Controls & Electronic Auditing. Sufficient municipal funds and resources must be dedicated to enforcing theft prevention and security requirements. Enforcement actions under municipal police powers, must be explicitly inscribed in the city’s municipal code. These actions should be made lawfully available: 1. Administrative Citations and Heavy Fines 2. Immediate "Stop Work" or Cease and Desist Orders 3. Business License Suspension or Revocation 4. Revocation of Discretionary Land Use Permits (CUP) 5. Report to State (CA DOJ) and Federal (ATF) Authorities 6. Public Nuisance Injunctions and Court-Ordered Closures The gravity of the consequences impacting our Goleta neighborhood from the lack of firearms retail regulations has spurred immediate action by the County of Santa Barbara to also develop an ordinance package that will establish a countywide regulatory framework for firearms retailers in the unincorporated area. I am heartened by the apparent consultations between our city and the County which has led to shared essential objectives in proposed regulatory frameworks. Thank you, Mayor and City Councilmembers, for being well-informed and committed to developing stepwise, comprehensive, and legally-sound changes to rectify the omission of firearms and ammunition retail regulations and standards in municipal code and policy. I am hopeful that you can expediently eliminate the clear and present threat to public safety and security from the presence and operations of an incompatible business selling firearms and ammunition in our neighborhood. The City of Goleta is serving as a model for transparent problem-solving and meaningful public engagement.
From: Chuck Flacks
To: Stuart Kasdin; James Kyriaco; Jennifer Smith; Luz Reyes-Martin; Paula Perotte; City Clerk Group Cc: Robert Nisbet
Subject: Your Professionalism and Commitment to Democracy Moved Me to Tears Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2026 10:20:41 AM
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Dear Council,
Last night was one of the finest displays of democracy I have ever witnessed. You all serve our community without thanks (most of the time). At the meeting you were faced with two contentious issues affecting my neighborhood.
For both the General Plan amendment and the gun sale controversy you faced heated criticism, media pressure, eloquent, and impassioned pleas on both sides.
You were asked to take controversial actions or sift through complicated, technical, and possibly historic responsibilities.
In these turbulent times of division among our populace and seeming lawlessness by our federal government, many of us feel helpless, powerless, and under threat.
Some of us are being taken from our homes and communities. Some of us are having trouble doing our jobs because of federal cuts in long-standing support.
Many of us are losing our healthcare. The desires to lash out, make strongly worded pronouncements, challenge standard norms, and make trouble are tempting, but often prove to be useless and hollow responses.
What will save our country is if each of us digs deep and does the thing that is called for in this moment, right now. Last night, you each did that. You struck a balance and held to your convictions. You listened with honest curiosity and fairly expressed your perspectives. You honored each person present without responding to sometimes angry feelings and words.
As your constituent and a longtime resident of our City, and can't help but feel honored and proud to have you as our leaders. Thank you for all you are doing.
Love,
Chuck Flacks
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Chuck Flacks
Cell: 805-617-9648
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuck-flacks-0743005/