The Goleta City Council discussed the relocation of a gun store next door to a preschool and daycare on Wednesday during a special meeting, following community backlash.

“I realize that we could have done this better; we should have, and I am sorry,” Mayor Paula Perotte said, tearing up with emotion.

The council discussed anticipated litigation related to the city’s approval of a business license for Goodland Guns’ relocation to 7443 Hollister Ave., as well as “related public statements threatening litigation against the city,” in a closed session, according to the staff report.

Following Wednesday’s closed-session council meeting, there was no reportable action, according to Kelly Hoover, Goleta’s community relations manager.

Council members did, however, direct city staff to schedule a public meeting regarding Goodland Guns as soon as possible. Additionally, council members asked to review the city’s land use ordinance at a future meeting.

No date has been set for those discussions, according to Hoover.

Reportable action following Wednesday’s closed session was “very limited,” according to City Attorney Isaac Rosen. It is based on whether the council were to take specific action regarding the threat of a lawsuit against the city.

Wednesday’s discussion comes about a week after a few dozen community members met at a park near Goodland Guns and Here We Grow Early Learning Center to oppose the opening of the gun shop and to demand answers about the relocation from Councilmen James Kyriaco and Stuart Kasdin.

Goodland Guns was issued a business license by the city on June 4 for permitted commercial use at the former 7-Eleven site that had sat vacant for years. Residents and school families said they only recently found out about the move, which prompted the outcry.

Residents raised safety and community concerns about the gun store and preschool being separated by a fence that children can see through and into the gun store’s property.

Some residents also threatened to withdraw their children from Here We Grow Early Learning Center, while others suggested suing the City of Goleta.

An online petition was launched that day to stop Goodland Guns from opening its doors, garnering more than 2,000 signatures.

However, the shop held a soft opening earlier this week, is currently open and is on track for its grand opening on Sept. 5 with free food and entertainment, store owner Dan Ashton told Noozhawk.

Additionally, a screen was recently put on the shared fence between the two businesses to create a visibility barrier for the children playing outside, Ashton told Noozhawk during the store’s soft opening earlier this week.  

While the public wasn’t able to listen to the City Council’s full discussion, they were still able to speak on Wednesday before the council went into closed session. 

“It puzzles us that senior managers did not recognize the controversial nature of plopping a gun store into the middle of a family-oriented neighborhood next to a preschool and along a path used by schoolchildren without informing the City Council or the public,” longtime Goleta resident Scott Cooper said.

He demanded that the City Council develop and approve a city ordinance that defines guns as deadly weapons, create more stringent buffers around places where there are children, revisit Goodland Guns’ business license and find another location for the storefront. 

Before the Wednesday meeting, Goleta officials also published a list of frequently asked questions regarding the gun store relocation. It included explanations that the sale of firearms and ammunition falls under general retail and does not have standards about where gun stores can operate within commercial zoning districts where they are allowed.  

However, some residents criticized the list of answers and the definition of general retail.

“This ignored the purpose of community commercial zoning, which is meant to serve the immediately adjacent residential neighborhood, while maintaining compatibility with nearby homes and businesses,” Ellwood resident Darcy Bradley said. 

Ashton was not present at Wednesday’s City Council special meeting but shared a statement with Noozhawk in an email.

“We respectfully ask the City Council and the public to look at the facts rather than yielding to a vocal minority. There is resounding support for this relocation across Goleta. Of the 2,022 signatures on the opposing petition, nearly a third are not even from this community,” he wrote.

“To the parents who have expressed concern about our location: A federally licensed firearms dealership is one of the most highly regulated, monitored and physically secure commercial spaces you can have in a neighborhood. Our inventory is locked down and heavily restricted. We are a safe, professional environment, and we pose zero hazard to anyone walking by.”

Before heading into closed session, Councilwoman Luz Reyes-Martín assured the community that the City Council was listening to their concerns and recognized that the closed session might be frustrating to some.

“I am a mom of school-age children, so it definitely hits very personally,” she said. “All I can say at this point is that I am taking all of it very much to heart, very seriously, and I am committed to working with the rest of our council to see what needs to be done.”

Noozhawk contributing writer Michael Spanjol contributed reporting to this story.