Residents Pepper Goleta Council with Questions, Advice on What to Do About Gun Shop Near Preschool

For the second City Council meeting in a row, Ellwood residents filled Goleta's council chambers to demand action over a gun shop that opened next door to a preschool — and to challenge the city over how it got there in the first place.

Goodland Guns, a firearms dealership that relocated from Goleta's Old Town to 7443 Hollister Avenue — the former site of a 7-Eleven — now operates directly beside Here We Grow preschool. The siting was approved through a ministerial permit process that required no neighbor notification and offered no avenue for appeal, as the Santa Barbara Independent reported.

The Goleta City Council is scheduled to discuss the gun shop at its September 1 meeting, after members expressed concern at an August 11 meeting and signaled interest in changing the ordinance that allowed the approval.

Residents Bring Research, Not Just Complaints

Speakers at the August 18 meeting came prepared with data, policy comparisons, and pointed questions: Can a preschool coexist with a gun store? Does a firearms dealer fit the commercial zoning description for the property? Has the city evaluated the shop's security?

Amy Bankoff told the council that "fixing tomorrow's ordinance cannot substitute for addressing today's problem." She cited a 2021 burglary in which thieves cut through a wall at Goodland Guns and stole 11 firearms, and said state Department of Justice records showed 32 guns used in crimes were traced to the dealer between 2021 and 2024. Bankoff cautioned that the trace data alone "does not by itself establish wrongdoing by the dealer," but argued that combined with the documented burglary history, it "warrants serious review by the city."

Other residents offered policy models. Mary Nishimoto noted that some California cities require firearms businesses to obtain a conditional use permit with structural security requirements, 24/7 theft-prevention systems, minimum $1 million commercial liability insurance, and buffer distances from sensitive uses like schools. Goleta currently has no such requirements — firearms sales are grouped under a sporting goods category in the city's zoning code.

Kyle Ashby took a market-based tack, estimating that only about 350 Ellwood residents fall into the roughly 8 percent of adult Californians who buy guns or ammunition — a fraction of the surrounding community. "You've failed 95 percent of the Ellwood community and 95 percent of all of Goleta who would never ever set foot on this property," he told councilmembers.

Ashby also read from Goleta's General Plan, which describes the community commercial zoning at the site as intended for "relatively small commercial centers, meant to supply everyday convenience goods and services to nearby residential neighborhoods." A gun store, he argued, doesn't fit that definition — drawing laughter when he added, "We all used the 7-Eleven. Crappy as it was, we all used the 7-Eleven."

Darcy Bradley said the gun store threatens the viability of the preschool next door, and Dr. John Feusier, a local dentist, suggested the city pressure the shop to leave, facilitate a lease break, and cover relocation costs if necessary.

The Owner Says the City Left Him Few Options

Gun shop owner Dan Ashton, for his part, says he's frustrated with Goleta too. He told the Independent he moved from his Old Town location after his rent doubled and for security reasons, and that he first tried to relocate to two industrial-zoned sites. One application was denied, he said, and the other was delayed so long that the property was leased out from under him — outcomes he attributes to what he believes were incorrect interpretations of city and state building and fire codes.

"I did my own research," Ashton said, noting that 13 other nearby businesses had received licenses without site plans. He said he spent $20,000 on two architects to prepare mechanical, electrical, plumbing, trash bin, and manhole elevation drawings. "No other business had to go there," he said.

The Hollister Avenue location was then approved ministerially — a by-the-book determination that firearms retail qualified under the property's zoning, with no public hearing.

Ashton pushed back on the crime-trace figures by noting he has sold more than 11,270 firearms over his time in business, putting the 32 traced guns at 0.28 percent of total sales. He said security at the new standalone building, which is surrounded by a fence, is better than at his previous shared location. He added that he has received calls of support, including some sympathy from neighbors at an August 3 community meeting.

Why It Matters Beyond Ellwood

The dispute touches a broader question for California municipalities: how firearms retailers are zoned. Because Goleta treats gun sales as sporting goods retail, approvals happen administratively rather than through discretionary review — meaning neighbors typically learn of such businesses only after they open.

Residents say the concerns extend beyond the preschool fence line. Children walk to Ellwood Elementary School five blocks away, a Class I bike path runs past the shop, and a bus stop sits across Hollister Avenue.

The September 1 council discussion will determine whether Goleta pursues an ordinance overhaul — such as conditional use permit requirements or distance buffers from schools — and whether the city takes any action specific to the Hollister Avenue location, up to and including the relocation incentives Feusier proposed.

For now, both the shop's neighbors and its owner agree on at least one thing: they believe the city's process failed them — residents who say they were blindsided, and a business owner who says the industrial sites he preferred were denied or delayed out from under him.

This article is based on reporting by the Santa Barbara Independent.