Less than a month after becoming enforceable, Buellton’s new housing restrictions on motels along Avenue of Flags now face a civil lawsuit that one property owner warned city officials was inevitable.
Farmhouse co-owner Kerry Moriarty was vocal about his intentions to sue the city during public hearings focused on Buellton’s motel reversion ordinance, enacted in late April.
The policy requires Farmhouse—a 60-year-old-motel development that’s offered long-term housing for nearly 30 years—to gradually revert its 22 residential units to traditional motel rooms.
“Compliance with the ordinance would force petitioners to displace all existing residents and attempt to convert the property into a full-service transient motel, a materially different use that has not existed on the property for decades,” the May 7 complaint states.
“The city has long been aware that the Farmhouse was being used for residential purposes,” the complaint alleges, “and at no time prior to the adoption of the ordinance did the city initiate enforcement proceedings or code enforcement actions challenging the residential use as unlawful.”
Filed in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, the lawsuit names Moriarty and fellow Farmhouse co-owners Glenn Wilson and Peggy Wilson as its petitioners who demanded a trial by jury.
Aside from compensation from Buellton for damages to be determined at trial and attorney fees, the petitioners want the court to order the city to “vacate the ordinance.”
The court summoned defendants—listed as the city of Buellton, the Buellton City Council, and City Manager Scott Wolfe—on May 14, giving them 30 calendar days to respond.
The council was scheduled to discuss the lawsuit in closed session at its May 28 meeting, but did not after staff said there was no need to.
“No closed session this evening,” City Attorney Greg Murphy said at the meeting. “No updates to share.”
Among various allegations in the 111-page complaint, plaintiffs accuse the Buellton ordinance of violating California’s laws against spot zoning. That’s when a local agency singles out a particular parcel of land for zoning treatment “materially inconsistent” with surrounding properties and unrelated to health, safety, or public welfare, Farmhouse’s attorneys said.
“California courts have repeatedly held that zoning actions adopted to burden a specific parcel or small group of parcels for redevelopment purposes, without a legitimate planning justification, constitute unlawful spot zoning,” the complaint states.
Farmhouse alleges that it was specifically targeted by the city for motel reversion “based on redevelopment and aesthetic preferences, which do not constitute a legitimate zoning rationale.”
“While the ordinance expressly identifies four [motel] properties along Avenue of Flags, it has the practical effect of targeting just the Farmhouse,” the complaint reads, “since one of the properties is exempted, one has been demolished, and the remaining one contains only two [short-term rental] units that are subject to the ordinance. As a result, the ordinance effectively singles out the Farmhouse.”
This article appears in June 4 – June 11, 2026.
