While Guadalupe gets ready to debut its first farmers market by February, Buellton officials are eyeing March as a potential start date to begin one of their own.
On Dec. 4, the Buellton Planning Commission granted Brenda Browning a conditional use permit that will allow vendors who participate in her proposed farmers market to set up shop on two city-owned medians on Avenue of Flags.
If the market comes to fruition, Planning Commissioner Shannon Reese said she believes it’ll add “some vitality, … on a regular basis, to the Avenue of Flags, which I appreciate.”
Browning told the commission that her family operates several farmers markets across Ventura, Los Angeles, and Riverside counties, “so we’re not new to it.”
She’s also the founder of the seasonal Los Alamos farmers market, which closed for the year in October.
“We had so many people from the Buellton area attend and ask if I could please do one here,” said Browning, whose proposal allows space for 13 vendors to participate.
There are currently more than a handful of vendors interested, including some farmers, a butcher, a baker, and “a jewelry lady,” Browning said. She added that all of them are based in Santa Barbara County.
“I have enough people to get it going,” she said. “They’re ready to go.”
City staff told the Planning Commission that the conditions tied to a permit approval would require Browning to also apply for a separate special event permit, which would outline specifics about the event—including use of trash cans and porta-potties—and the city’s requirements of participating vendors.
“There’s also several conditions related to County Health and county Agricultural Commission approvals,” Buellton Associate Planner Cara Miralles said. “Those would be the responsibility of the applicant to obtain or confirm that the vendors have the required health permits.”
Miralles described the farmers market proposal as aligning with goals set out by the Avenue of Flags specific plan, specifically for the two selected city-owned medians, known as medians 2 and 3, among a total of five on that street.
“The specific plan for the Avenue of Flags envisions median 2 to be used for events like farmers markets and it was designed with this use in mind,” Miralles said. “Median 3 is envisioned to be a park-like atmosphere with community amenities.”
Planning Commissioner Kasey Kump described the project as a good use of city land before motioning to approve the conditional use permit. The motion passed 4-0 (Planning Commissioner Brian Campbell was absent).
This article appears in Dec 11 – Dec 18, 2025.