City Council — August 12, 2026

Okay, welcome everyone to our special closed session meeting of August the 12th, 2026. If we can have roll call please?

Madam Mayor, we don't have any amendments or adjustments but I'll just note for the record that it's very typical that the council opens the meeting in open session before we go into closed session and provide an opportunity for people to speak. It's very typical when the council is meeting in closed session that there is no public comment but we do see members of the public here today so your agenda was just put together to kind of acknowledge that might happen and there's even an item for council comments on there as well. So just slightly different than normal, but no amendments or

adjustments. Okay great so I guess what we could do is opportunity for the public to speak on the closed session item. Mr. Rosen did you wanna say a few words?

Thank You Mary and I see we do have a question as well from Councilmember Kuriako.

Also, I just want to say that we're doing things different. Usually for closed session we don't have translation but we do have translation if anybody needs it, if you'd like to come up?

Good evening. We have interpretation into Spanish available both on Zoom and in person. Buenas tardes. Tenemos interpretacion disponible en español en Zoom y tambien en persona. Aqui tengo auriculares. I have headsets over here. Thank you. Gracias.

Thank you, Viviana. Okay now Mr. Rosen.

Thank you Mary yes as a couple folks up here have noted it is a little distinguishable this evening's special meeting and public comment before closed session so I thought I would just articulate for the community before we begin public comment. So the applicable sort of limitations associated with tonight's special meeting agenda under the Brown Act. So members of the public are welcome to provide public comment associated with tonight's This is a special meeting. The Brown Act does not permit the Council to engage in substantive discussions with respect to those points made in public comment.

As has been noted already, after council comments the city will adjourn to closed session. And while I as City Attorney do not anticipate that the Council will have reportable action this evening if there is any reportable action that would occur once closed session adjourns this evening.

Thank you. Thank you so much for that. Okay open it up to the public for comments on this item.

Thank you Madam Mayor. For those of you on the Zoom webinar, please use the raised hand icon and I will call on you. I do have 24 attendees on the zoom webinar but only one hand up. I have three in-person speaker slips. Our first in person speaker is Scott Cooper and all speakers will have three minutes

I thank the Mayor and City Council for this opportunity to speak. My name is Scott Cooper, I have lived in Goleta for 46 years including the last 40 years as a homeowner in the Elwood area. My wife and I raised our two daughters here we like her neighborhood and elected representatives and we have supported many of the city's initiatives. The Goodland Guns relocation however has shaken our faith in the city's management We realize that city staff follow a checklist process when dealing with licenses, but we assume that upper city management provides oversight and approval for the staff's work. So it puzzles us that senior main 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 school children without informing the City Council or the public.

One of the victims of these events is the trust of Goleta's citizens in its city's management, which can be partially rectified by developing and approving a new City Ordinance that recognizes guns as deadly weapons and creates more stringent buffers around places where children aggregate. We also question the city's judgments and decisions surrounding this relocation of Goodland Guns, which violate the Community Commercial Zoning Code for 7443 Hollister and fail to recognize numerous state statutes and the City's own Safe Gun Storage Ordinance not to mention the special firearm business license that recognized the distinct danger posed by guns.

Because of these inconsistencies and others the city needs to proceed with a new firearms ordinance, revisit the business license and find a more appropriate location for good land guns. Inform the City Council and entertain public input congruent with basic common sense and good governance thank you.

Thank you

our next in-person speaker Sheila Weissman

Hello, my name is Sheila Wiseman and I'm a US citizen. I've been an Elwood homeowner for 40 years. I appreciate how the city and the City Council and staff run Goleta. I really do except for the placement of this gun shop. I could not bring a gun in here, not one gun Even if I asked, if it was okay. You're bringing hundreds of guns into our neighborhood and you didn't even ask if it was okay.

There's no notification. I couldn't bring a gun in here but I could bring a frisbee and that's because a frispee is a sporting good And it seems like you're considering firearms to be sporting goods. Thanks very much for letting me speak. Thank you.

Our next in-person speaker, Mary Nishimoto.

Good afternoon Mayor Parodi, good afternoon council members. As a resident of the affected neighborhood I object to the recent ministerial action by the Planning and Development Department that allowed Goodland Guns owned by Ashton Enterprises LLC to move into 7443 Hollister Avenue On June 4th, more than two months ago the City issued a categorically distinct Special Firearms Business License to Goodland Guns and a Ministerial Zoning Compliance Approval by right of use as General Retail in my neighborhood's Community Commercial Zone. Mind you, my neighborhood first learned only two weeks ago at the end of July through word-of-mouth about the firearms dealer moving into the former 7-Eleven convenience store This was because there was no public notice requirement and there appears to be no avenue for public appeal to the city, because the 10-day deadline has long passed.

There appears to be an abuse of discretion by the Planning Department on two accounts. One, to internally and without transparency use an irregular level of discretion to categorize highly regulated firearm retail which is an unlisted business type in the City's zoning code as general retail. Thus giving Goodland Guns ministerial approval by right of use to develop the location.

To knowingly permit the gun store to move next door to an operating infant care and preschool facility without considering the impact that the presence of a gun store might have on this adjacent Sensitive location was my second point to account. I asked the Council to seek answers to three questions. One, given that it was a ministerial review what fixed or objective standard did the planning staff use to determine that firearms retail is general retail?

If there was no clear standard or precedence to follow, should this irregular ministerial process have become a discretionary zoning compliance review that called for Planning Commission deliberation and a transparent public process? Can the City Council pause the development and form a working group to review with the public's meaningful engagement what led to this ministerial zoning approval and find a remedy for the neighborhood's grievances. Our community has made it known to council members that they would like to see Goodland Guns relocated to another property that is not in a community commercial zone, in proximity to sensitive locations.

I hope the City Council provides answers to these questions and I look forward to the council's report today after the closed session. I ask that the report include specific actions taken and corresponding votes of members and that the report is publicly available on the city's website. Thank you. And my friend is here to support this comment.

Thank you.

That is it for the in-person speakers. We'll now move to the Zoom speakers. Our first Zoom speaker is Kirsten Bale. Please unmute yourself, you will have three minutes.

Hi, my name is Kirsten Bailey and I am a Moms Demand Action volunteer. Thank you for having me Mayor and Council Members. I know tonight's item concerns potential litigation and I'm not asking you to discuss legal strategy in public. I'm here to make sure that human stakes are on the record before you go into closed session. Goodland's got a new location at 7443 Hollister Avenue, shares a fence line with Here We Grow Early Learning Center right next to a bike path children use to reach Elwood Elementary.

The license was approved administratively with no public hearing before Goleta currently has because Goleta currently has no rule addressing firearm retailers near child care facilities This isn't a fringe concern. Thank you Council Member Kariakou for calling it an unacceptable location and Supervisor Caps for calling it the worst location imaginable. Over 50 residents showed up to the meeting with only a few days notice, and more than 1,000 people have signed a petition against this location. Whatever the litigation risk, I'm asking you in the city attorney not to let the threat of a lawsuit be the reason nothing changes. Please pursue every lawful tool available to protect the children next door and defend the city's right to do so. Thank you so much.

Thank you our

next zoom speaker is Darcy Bradley please unmute yourself

Thank you, Mayor and City Council for holding this special session. My name is Darcy Bradley and I live in the Elwood neighborhood. I want to highlight three critical failures in the city's judgment regarding the permitting of Goodland guns at 7443 Hollister Avenue, and I'd also like to offer constructive solutions as you go into your closed session later this evening.

First, the Q&A document provided by the City as a justification for its decision-making relies on the claim that firearms are sporting goods and therefore allowed under general retail in a community commercial zone. This ignores the purpose of community commercial zoning, which is meant to serve the immediately adjacent residential neighborhood while maintaining compatibility with nearby homes and businesses. As one of your own council members noted this site is next to a preschool in a residential neighborhood along a class 1 bike lane down the street from an elementary school and directly on a state-funded safe passage to school.

A gun store clearly does not serve only this adjacent neighborhood, and permitting it here contradicts the intent of the zoning designation. Second, treating firearms as ordinary sporting goods is inconsistent with our own local laws. Goleta's Safegun Storage Ordinance and Firearm Business Ordinance treat firearms as a distinct category. Firearms are not listed under general retail goods sold and the City's inconsistent definition contributed directly to this predicament we find ourselves in here.

Third, the lack of transparency by the city is a serious failure. The city's manager's office stated that staff were not required to notify the council or the public because this was a standard business license. But given the sensitivity of firearms near child-focused facilities, staff should have recognized the need for transparency in relation to other gun focused ordinances. The city itself has said and I quote keeping And in particular, our children is of utmost importance. Yet the public and our elected representatives were kept in the dark about this clearly controversial decision.

I ask the City Council take seriously both near- and long-term solutions. First, delay the opening of Goodland Guns until an appropriate location is identified, and take to heart the intention of community commercial zoning. Next, adopt an ordinance establishing buffer zones around preschools daycares and other child-focused venues. And third please strengthen expectations for transparency and communication between city staff and the council thank you for your time. Thank you okay

we have one hand up but I want to remind those on the zoom webinar please use the raised hand icon if you wish to speak our next speaker is Steve Laffey Please unmute yourself and you'll have three minutes, Steve. Steve, are you there? Steve, you need to unmute yourself. OK, we're going to move on to Kyle Ashby. We'll come back to Steve. Kyle Ashbly, please unmute yourself. You have three minutes.

Kyle, are you there? Kyle Ashby, are you there?

Yes sir. Can you hear me now?

Yes I can thank you go ahead.

Great my name is Kyle Ashby. I'm a 53 year resident born and raised in Goleta alumni of Dos Pueblos and UCSB and a local business owner and unfortunately the local business community is a little outraged by this decision. You've disappointed and let down two businesses to start Positioning these two businesses directly next to each other is an absolute failure. There is no way either of these two businesses can succeed.

In addition, I suggest you check your email starting today and moving forward for future comments from local business leaders in this Galeta community including restaurant owners, small businessmen. All of these businesses in proximity to this path Thank you very much. We're so excited to hear this new path that's being put in, to give us access not just to the Elwood schools that our kids went to, to Dos Pueblos that our kids went to via bikes but to these businesses in the community. You are letting down multiple businesses who we all walk to in the evenings for dinner and the mornings for breakfast, in the afternoons to pick up items that we don't have at home or in our businesses that are located in the area. So I suggest you take these these comments to heart and look closely at the business community because you're letting down two directly now but you have let down a number of them in the future thank you.

Thank you

okay we're gonna go to Steve Laffey again if you'll please unmute yourself

oh Hi, can you hear me?

Yes we can. Thank you.

Excellent. Hi I'm a 32-year resident of Goleta in Santa Barbara and I've worked hard the entire time that I've lived here to have a family and create a space that is a spot where our family can thrive. We were Through our hard work and effort, we were able to purchase a home last year in Elwood. And we just enrolled our 20-month old son at Here We Grow. Right adjacent to Goodland Guns. So you can imagine our disappointment when we just heard the news that this gun shop was opening a fence away from where our 20-month old child plays and learns, and I just wanted to express that there's no political motivation in this.

The voice of a small business owner who has worked really hard to have a family and live in this place that we love. And create a home there, and this directly impacts not only our family but a number of other families if this shop opens there are going to be consequences. We are gonna have to Unenroll our child from the school. We're going to have to relocate him. We're considering relocating our family. I just want to express how consequential opening a shop with weapons and ammunition is in the safe, already very safe community of Elwood and Goleta And how many lives it's going to impact if this shop is allowed to open.

That's the voice that I'm bringing today with passion and a love for the community that we live in, and wanting to keep it a place where our family can thrive. Thanks.

Thank you. Just a reminder for you folks on the Zoom webinar, be sure to use the raised hand icon and I will call on you to speak. Our next speaker is Christy Zewieke. Please unmute yourself and you'll have three minutes.

Yes hi can everybody hear me okay?

Yes we can thank you.

Okay good just one so Thank you for taking the time to do this. I just wanted to read the voice of my daughter into the record just because The voice of children is important too for this issue. And I hope that you remember this in your closed session, so here we go. This is from my 11 year old daughter Charlotte Zwicky and this is her quote. My name is Charlotte Zwicky and I am 11 years old. I've heard about things called school shootings where people shoot a bunch of kids.

Well having a gun shop next to a 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. And that was her quote and that's all i have to say

thank you.

And with that mayor I have no more hands raised for public comment

Okay, then at this time I'm going to close public comment. And I'm going to... Can

I

have three minutes? Yes and you can fill out a speaker slip later we just need it for the record but please come back. I won't close that quite yet.

It looks like Kevin Duffy put his hand up as well. For another reminder for those on the Zoom webinar you have to use the raised hand icon so I know you want to speak.

Go ahead sir.

Yeah hi my name is Steve Hale.

I think I was the first one to start this whole thing. And I sent messages to Ms. Perote and Smith, never did get any response but as you can see this is kind of blown up. I noticed it, I drive down that street every day. I've lived here for 30 years and all sudden there's a steel bars going up pointed tips and there's an army truck in the parking lot says property United States Army for official use only.

It's been parked there, the owner said that it was a historical vehicle don't worry about it but all these little kids are gonna be walking down that street going to you know first second third fourth you know grade school they're gonna see this truck I've noticed that cars are trying to get into that parking lot and gates are closed so there's cars parking on on the walkway that the kids used to go to school It's just amazing to me that this is gonna be allowed to happen. You know, it's mind-blowing and I'm wondering, I know you wanna hear from us but we would like to hear from you people what you're gonna do You know, is this just okay we listen to the people so let's go home and have dinner?

Or are you contemplating any actions to alleviate this issue. I know the gun owner, shop owner has already kind of Lied, he said there was gonna be no gun signage out in front but he's got two big GGs on the gates. He said he had a 25 year lease, there's nothing he could do to get out of it. Well that's not true, he only has a five year lease with options to go through it. But also the other fact that he was going to according to him open up in a commercial, in an industrial area and the city shot them down.

And then it seems like they've made some kind of, well we can't get you this but we can get you this and we'll let you slide through here. So I don't know what the deal was. Again, it seems like the city has let a little Elwood community. It's always been you could leave surfboards on the lawn out there. You can leave your wetsuits, your bicycles up front of your house. Nobody would bother them and now we've got people coming from all over the area according to the comments.

that they're glad to slap one on. And also, I don't know if you've... I'm running over but if you look at their website, I went onto their website and they're selling almost automatic weapons parts to make weapons anyways.

Thank you.

OK, we do have three more Zoom hands up. We're going to start with Kevin Duffy. Please unmute yourself. You'll have three minutes. Kevin are you there? Kevin I see you're unmuted but I don't hear you. OK, well come back to Kevin. We're going to go with Christina Fluitt. If you'll please unmute yourself, you'll have three minutes.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes we can. Thank you.

Hi, thank you. I am a local mom. I've been a homeowner in the Elwood area for about nine years now and I have two young boys who go to Elwood Elementary School and I just wanted my voice on record saying that this decision to put firearms business along the bike path to school is impacting all of us. My kids bike in a group of kids with one parent and it has been such a joy to feel like they are safe Going to and from school on that path, and not only the implication of the firearms but the traffic in and out with bigger vehicles. We've already seen bigger vehicles, the army truck that's parked there that might not be able to see over the windshield to see all of our bikers.

It's a big concern for me logistically, the perception of safety and the actual safety with bringing more weapons into our community and also bringing Make possibly larger vehicles who are not as aware that this is a community. This is where children are multiple times a day. My son, I think wants to say something. He's 10 years old.

It's not fair that on the way to school we would be biking with my friends and we would see a gun shop With a bunch of vehicles and a preschool right next to it, which with the gun shop there might close down the preschool. And that just doesn't seem fair because they were there first and I don't think it would be fair to anyone who lives in this community to look to be driving on the on Hollister and seeing a gun company on their way to school or at that preschool right next to it. And it just doesn't seem fair to any kid that might be...

Yeah,

thank you.

Thank you.

Okay our next Zoom speaker is going to be we're gonna try Kevin Duffy again. Kevin can you hear us? Kevin, can you unmute yourself? OK. We're going to move to Jill Means. If you'll please unmute yourself. You have three minutes.

Hi my name is Jill Carlson Means. I am a neighbor in the Elwood community, I've owned a home lived in the community for 30 years and own the home that I live in for most of that time and I have written a letter to the City Council members but most of the points have already been made tonight so I'm just going to read A couple of the points that I feel i want to make that sort of emphasize more a couple of the really important points that have been made tonight.

I'm particularly concerned about the preschool our community already faces a shortage of affordable high school child care and early education options we should be supporting new child care providers not creating avoidable land use conflicts that could undermine their viability A preschool depends on families feeling comfortable enrolling their young children there. It is entirely foreseeable that some parents will be uncomfortable leaving infants, toddlers or preschool-aged children immediately adjacent to a business whose primary purpose is the sale of firearms and ammunition. Whether one agrees with that concern is beside the point. The potential conflict was foreseeable and our zoning process apparently provided no mechanism for considering it.

That is the problem. Firearm retailers also have security considerations that distinguish them from many other neighborhood retail businesses. In 2021, Goodland Guns itself was the victim of a burglary in which federal authorities reported that firearms were stolen after forced entry. The business was a victim of a crime and I do not suggest otherwise but the incident illustrates precisely why location matters.

Firearms are uniquely consequential merchandise when stolen. A zoning policy therefore does not need to characterize firearm retailers as dangerous businesses to recognize that their security considerations and potential impacts warrant location-specific review. Goleta already recognizes this land use principle. The city already recognizes that a business can be entirely lawful while nevertheless requiring restrictions on where it may operate.

Storefront cannabis retailers, for example, are generally prohibited within 600 feet of K-12 schools and are subject to separation requirements involving residentially zoned properties. The policy principle behind those restrictions is straightforward, a lawful business can still be poorly suited to a particular location. Thank you for your service to our community and I really hope that you take all of these public comments now that we've had an opportunity to make them with awareness of the situation hoping that you'll take them into consideration

Thank you. And the last call for speakers, please use your raised hand icon if you wish to speak to this item. This is the last call for public comment. I'm seeing no more public comment for this item mayor. No

more? Okay and we couldn't get Kevin Duffy back?

You know he logged off, he's here. Let me see. He's

logged

off. Kevin I just unmuted you are able to hear us if you'd like to speak go ahead. Kevin Duffy Kevin, can you unmute yourself? So he put his hand down. He's online now but he is not responding.

Okay great then at this time I'm not seeing any more speakers. I'm gonna close public comment and go to council comments and typically I always go last but this time I'm gonna go first because I'm the mayor and I can do that. You know I just want you to know that I hear you And excuse me. Okay, and I share your concerns. And I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for all your emails and suggestions.

We have documented them all, and you can continue sending them in. And if we've missed anyone, send it into our website. We're continuing to read them and respond to them. So thank you, and thank you for being here this evening. And I apologize, but I'm emotional too. Hey, I really dislike when I get like this. Excuse me. I realize that we could have done this better.

We should have, and I'm sorry. You know many of us are Still a little bit traumatized and sensitive over our own shootings that we had in our backyard. We had the Goleta Post Office, 2006. We had Isla Vista in 2014. So it's hard not to remember that. So I'm the type of person that likes to take responsibility for my actions. And so that's why, what are we doing? It was asked, what are we doing moving forward? This is our opportunity to just make comments and not really address your questions that will come but it's our responsibility to go into closed session where it will be discussed And what I'd like to do, what I'd like to ask staff to come back to us as soon as possible.

Probably won't be at the next meeting in August because that's just around the corner and I'd like staff to be able to tell us how we can change this ordinance. Let's review this ordinance because I know we can do better and at that time then Have another meeting and that's where we will come together, look at staffs report. You speak your mind again and agree or disagree with what we've come up with. And we will go forward and take it from there and hopefully have an ordinance sooner than later.

So I guess I have not much more to say other than we can do better. Okay. Council Member Kastin.

Yeah, thank you.

Remember we're supposed to be brief.

I will be brief. So there's clearly the community has a sense that their safety has been violated, that they've felt betrayed by these actions. And that there should have been some recognition, some awareness that guns are not the same thing as backpacks and we've heard tales of a lot of break-ins at the other store Typically, people aren't as concerned if hiking shoes and backpacks are stolen as opposed to guns. As I understand there's still seven guns missing from the last break-in in Goodland Guns.

I, you know, without being a lawyer, without, you know, evaluating there's a difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. The letter of the law might have been that the process was followed appropriately et cetera but with the spirit of the law there should have been an awareness not necessarily from the planner at the lower level But the leadership should have been attentive to it, should have been aware. There should have been a red flag. You've heard all about the proximity to preschools, say class one bike lanes, safe routes to school in a residential neighborhood.

I don't know what went on with regard to the other location why one was Pursued and the other was not, I would be interested to find out more about it. But part of that is a recognition that the owner had choices. So in pursuing for instance an ordinance going forward that would distinguish that there are certain locations appropriate for gun stores and others that are not There's, we recognize that there are a variety of options even if we include an ordinance that would say preschools are a bad choice for being next door to gun stores. So I will second, of course what you proposed as far as staff bringing something like that forward some sort of evaluation and to do it as expeditiously as possible And I guess I would just say, in general, last comment that if we have questions for HCD, those are raised.

The staff knows to reach out to HCD and ask questions. When something comes up like this, bring it to council. Ask. Raise it. Do we want to do something different? Is this something that should have been, you know, react to in some ways. You can see by the reaction both from the community and political leaders elsewhere that this was not just an ordinary kind of routine decision, a paperwork decision.

Our leadership are the ones that get to higher points by having the judgment By having that sort of awareness to be able to distinguish when there's something that's important. Tell us, bring it to us. We're supposed to be working together and it's not just staff does its thing and brings it to council for ratification. And so that's what I have and I agree we could've done better. Thank you.

Thank you Mayor and I will also echo my support for staff bringing something back to us as soon as possible. I know that, I want to acknowledge how frustrating the Brown Act and all our various kind of protocols are in wanting to have more direct Two-way dialogue with the community, you know we can do that one on one and I'm happy to continue doing that. I'm doing my best to respond as quickly as possible to the many public comments we've gotten so I want to just acknowledge how awkward that can be and frustrating but as the mayor said when we have like a an actual discussion item that will give us more of an ability to engage in dialogue I want to thank every single person who has taken time out of their summer and back-to-school readiness to email us.

You're really thoughtful and heartfelt comments. I'm a mom of school-aged children, so it definitely hits very personally many of the comment letters I've received from parents and grandparents who care about you know the kids in the community So all I can say at this point is I am taking all of it very, very much to heart. Very seriously and I'm committed to working with the rest of our council to see what needs to be done and how we can move forward. And to the point of so many folks who have written to us attempt to begin to repair some of the trust I so appreciate every single person who has started with, I even heard it tonight. How much they appreciate the city and how unusual this is and how it's really rattled you, I agree.

And we're going to have to commit ourselves as a council to working on that and repairing that. So thank you for being here.

Thank you. Councilmember Carriaco?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'm not sure if I'm the third or fourth person but let's bring this back to look at all available options. You know, I was raised by a single mom and I grew up needing child care and daycare. I was one of those first generation of kids that were daycare kids A lot of us forget that in the world of planning and government and everything else, not that long ago childcare wasn't a word. Daycare wasn't a word. It wasn't a business. It wasn't something you planned for. You planned for churches. You planned for shopping centers. You planned for schools. You planned for gathering places. You didn't plan for daycares. That was the job of the mom. That was just how government thought of it.

And in a lot of ways our government in a much broader sense is still catching up to modern life and the life that we all live today. And so just to begin with, I just want to say that you know, I think we're all shocked and we're all surprised that this was proposed by a business owner agreed to buy a property owner and allowed to happen by the rules and the regulations and the codes that ultimately at the end of You know, please don't pick on our staff. Their job is to take the policies we create and implement them fairly and without fear or favor or friend of foe.

We're the ones that have to be accountable so please don't pick on our staff. What's especially hard for me and I think jarring and rattling as people have mentioned up here is that our city has really tried to go above and beyond to put the safety and welfare of our children and youth at the heart of our policies, at the center of our decision making. If you look around there aren't too many cities that created specific zoning ordinances to make it easier for child cares and daycares to go in.

You can go to the counter and get a permit almost anywhere in the city for a childcare center. That's not true elsewhere. If you are a business that proposes including child care at your business, for example the giant medical offices that are going in at Stork and Santa Felicia. You get a break from the city on your development fees You get potential benefits like parking considerations.

The city goes out of its way to try and make it easier for childcare to be accessible. We give $250,000 a year to local child care centers teacher training to business training for providers, to make it easier for people to do the business of child care in the city so that our families and our children can benefit. Because it's hard being a mom these days. It's hard being a dad these days. It is hard being a parent these days. The cost of living, the availability and accessibility of childcare. These are issues that our city has really tried to put front-and-center.

One thing that makes things harder is understanding all the myriad rules and regulations. It was pointed out at the meeting at Ellwood, hey how come you can't be a cannabis shop and be within like 600 feet of a child care center? How come you can't be liquor store and be within 600 feet of a childcare center? Well part of the problem is the state is still catching up to childcare and daycare. And I'll give you an example.

The California Gun-Free School Zone Act of 1995. If you're a K through 12 school, you can't have a gun within 1,000 feet. You cannot have a gun within 1,000 feet of a school. But you know what makes it hard for cities when they're trying to navigate all these rules and understand things? There's a special carve out for gun stores. You can be within 1, 000 feet of a school if you're licensed gun store.

That's not just a loophole, that is an explicit carve out in the law. That was done with intention. That sound if you listen really closely is our county and other cities looking at their own rules to find out if what was allowed by statute and zoning to happen in Goleta to find out if it could happen there. I suspect the answer is yes. But we're the ones that are accountable for Goleta. We're the ones that have to make it right for Goleta, and so my commitment is not that I'm just gonna sit here and listen, and then that's it.

My commitment is I'm gonna continue listening here, we're gonna go into closed session, we'll come back with all available legal options to us to make this right. And I hope that the property owner and I hope the business owner will reconsider some of their choices Let me close with this. This is something that I said at the meeting in Elwood as well, and I'm not sure everyone there appreciated it but I think it's important to say.

This isn't just a question of where shouldn't a gun store be? It's also a question of where should a gun store be? I suspect that if it were announced that the gun shop is just going to stay at its current location many people would think of that as a win So let me share something because I'm the current council member that represents the existing location of Goodland Guns. It's on Hollister Avenue in Old Town, Goleta.

It doesn't share a fence line with the preschool but you can look just over a fence at the Michelle Apartments. The Michelle Apartments for those of you that don't know is a place where a lot of lower income mostly Latino families live. A lot of children look out the window every day at Goodland Guns right now right now. It's within a few hundred feet of the Goleta Community Center.

There is no buffer between it and the Goleta Community Center. If you go to park to take your family to eat at The Habit Restaurant, you have to walk right by the entrance to Goodland Guns. You can't avoid it if you park there. Is it an acceptable result? To have things be just as they are without this change, without it moving from Old Town to Elwood. Or do we need to think more broadly and more deeply as a community about where should gun stores be located? Because I would submit that there are parts of the city that some might think of as industrial, some might think of is very commercial. But there are thriving, vibrant neighborhoods with people that matter right next to some gun stores. There's also a gun shop on Cayo Real and there is a neighborhood right there.

So I think we need to think about this in a broader sense. That does not in any way take away from the experience that Elwood families Parents, individuals are very rightly feeling right now that feeling of how could this happen in our beautiful sleepy neighborhood. An incredible neighborhood I love Elwood. Of course we don't want this to happen of course to me it's an incompatible use they should not be right next to each other but we need to think about what is the line and where should they be not just where shouldn't they be? And so i think that's what we have to work on as a city too thank you