City council to review ‘urgency ordinance’ in response to potential firearms dealer
The Healdsburg City Council will discuss a temporary moratorium on firearms dealers in the downtown area, in response to a shop that has expressed interest in an empty retail space on North Street.
The retail spot, in the 100 block of North Street, is between a toy store and the Raven Performing Arts Theater and was most recently home to a real estate firm.
The city’s planning department believes that a firearms dealer in the downtown commercial district “may not be appropriate,” according to a city council staff report prepared by Maya DeRosa, the city’s planning director.
There are currently no restrictions on retail gun shops in commercial districts and DeRosa’s report points out that the city’s land use code singles out service stations, adult bookstores and cannabis and alcohol establishments for special permits (or bans) in commercial areas.
The moratorium, if approved by the city council, would last for 45 days and allow the city more time to study the issue and whether to establish certain areas where firearms dealers would be prohibited.
There has not been a firearms dealer in the downtown area since a sporting goods store on Healdsburg Avenue that served hunters and fishermen closed in the 1980s.
The city council meets Monday, Dec, 18 at 6 p.m. at Healdsburg City Hall.
