Buellton to Consider Relocating Long-Term Motel Residents

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This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.

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The Farmhouse Motel is a bright-baby-blue set of buildings on the north end of one of Buellton’s main thoroughfares, Avenue of Flags. For decades, its owner, Kerry Moriarty, has operated the motel as apartments for low-income people. That includes folks like Guy Maler, a 14-year resident who lives on about $1,200 each month. Maler is disabled and lives in a room retrofitted for his use. 

On October 23, Buellton’s City Council will vote to advance a law that would require the Farmhouse — and motels like it — to convert back to short-term stays. The move comes as part of a goal to revitalize the avenue, a more than 65-year effort according to City Manager Scott Wolfe. 

As it stands, the ordinance itself would allow six months for motels to convert back to short-term stays. If a tenant put their name on a waiting list for any affordable housing in this six-month time period, the ordinance would allow an additional six months for those tenants before they would be required to move. The ordinance was first introduced and then amended this summer; it’s being read again because City Councilmember Carla Mead has just started her term. 

Mayor David Silva said the city aims to help motel residents apply to a place at one of three new affordable housing complexes, all slated to be open by the time they would have to move. Silva said the city started with Polo Village, which opened in August, and supported efforts to get folks living on Avenue of Flags to apply. 

For Maler and other residents like him, the change would mean leaving his home — and, given the high demand for affordable housing, questions remain on whether he would actually find a spot. 

“We’re not disrupting anyone — why move us?” Maler told the Independent. 

The Motels on the Avenue 

Buellton’s Avenue of Flags once served as Highway 101, and businesses built on it served the auto travel economy. After the state rerouted the 101, Buellton began a long discussion on how to adapt its avenue. 

In 2017, the state approved a special plan for the avenue, which aims to create a distinct art-deco design and elevate local businesses. The plan has several different parts the city is working on implementing; the May 2025 amended plan is more than 200 pages long. 

The plan says that there are motels on the avenue that are violating zoning regulations. But the plan acknowledges that the motels play an important role in housing low-income tenants. According to the city, state housing law requires those units be replaced. The city says that by investing in Polo Village, it removed the necessity for landowners to do this. 

Farmhouse owner Kerry Moriarty said his motel is a public benefit. Some of his tenants live there long-term, while others are getting back on their feet. He said he doesn’t look too hard at credit, in some cases he takes on folks with no security deposit, and that currently, three formerly homeless people are living in the motel. 

“[The ordinance] really goes against the California state mandate of preserving all affordable housing to prevent homelessness,” he said. 

Further complicating things, the city’s general plan permits SROs, or single-room occupancies, and the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development doesn’t want to see a municipality adopt an ordinance that permits one type of housing just to remove it. For this reason, said City Manager Scott Wolfe, the law before the City Council on October 23 exempts the motel Red Rose Court; the city says it is a local historic landmark and is in good shape. Red Rose Court rents studio apartments. 

That leaves the San Marcos Motel, which has just two units rented monthly; 480 Avenue of Flags, which has been slated for demolition and redevelopment since 2020; and The Farmhouse Motel, which offers 22 rooms for monthly rent, with rooms going for around $900-$1,200 a month. 

“It feels like I’m being targeted,” said the Farmhouse’s owner, Kerry Moriarty. 

He said that to convert the motel back to its original use will cost him between $1 million and $1.5 million — he said he’ll need to get new furniture, create a customer base, and hire a motel manager, for starters. 

Moriarty has hired a legal team — Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP — to represent him and plans to move forward with legal action if the ordinance passes. In a letter to the city, attorney Christopher Guillen said the ordinance would violate state housing law as well as illegally single out the Farm House. 

New Affordable Housing Units 

Buellton has been investing in affordable housing, both financially and by approving affordable housing projects. Polo Village, a collection of 48 apartments serving families and veterans, developed by the county’s Housing Authority, opened in May. Village Senior Apartments, which will offer 50 apartments for seniors, and Buellton Garden Apartments, which will provide 89 low income units; Buellton Garden Apartments is slated to open this summer. 

Buellton’s new affordable housing projects will set rent based on a percentage of a person’s income — that means that folks living there may pay less than they would in their current housing, though it depends on each individual case. 

The affordable housing complexes would also offer additional services, connecting people to healthcare, veterans’ services, and social services if they need them, said Buellton Mayor David Silva. 

“Housing is just one factor to it, but there usually are four or five other things going on,” Silva said. 

Silva said he wants to help make it clear who can apply for affordable units and help people through what can be a complicated application process, connecting them to the resources they need to do so. 

Affordable housing is in high demand. Currently, Polo Village is full. Buellton Garden Apartments, which is run by People’s Self-Help Housing, will open pre-applications in November. The Senior Apartments, managed by the Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation, did not respond to requests for comment in time for this story. 

Resident Maler says he hopes the city councilmembers will put themselves in his shoes when they vote. “They talk about relocating like it’s no problem. But when you’re 67 and a cripple, well … ” he trailed off.