Ahead of submitting an official project proposal, the owner of a vacant 0.7-acre lot in Buellton gave city leaders a glimpse into his hopes for the property.
Located north of Hotel Hygge and south of Farmhouse Motel, 560 Avenue of Flags was at the center of a conceptual review hearing, which took place during the Buellton City Council’s Aug. 24 meeting.
Property owner Joe Collins plans to propose a four-story, mixed-use building with ground-floor commercial spaces for storefronts or other types of business tenants, 26 upper-floor apartment units, and 49 parking spots.
“First of all, it’s a beautiful building,” Councilmember Carla Mead said after a presentation led by representatives from Collins’ planning consultant Oasis Associates and architect Arris Studio Architects.
The Aug. 24 hearing was scheduled to give council members a chance to provide initial input on Collins’ project description, vicinity map, and conceptual renderings—highlighting the development’s art deco traits—before he finalizes a project application, Contract City Planner Irma Tucker explained at the meeting.
“I would love to see a nighttime rendering,” Mead suggested, “just to see a little bit more of what you have in mind for that open, inviting commercial space.”
As for input regarding what she hopes to see in the project’s formal application, Mead recommended an emphasis on “the vision for the commercial space. … and just how that is going to be something that draws people to the Avenue [of Flags], which is what we want to be doing.”
The city’s longtime goal of revitalizing the Avenue of Flags corridor and incentivizing redevelopment also led the council to adopt new housing restrictions in March that prohibit motels in the area from offering long-term housing.
The ordinance led Farmhouse Motel co-owner Kerry Moriarty to sue the city for forcing him to convert the property’s 22 long-term residency units into motel rooms. Following the Aug. 24 conceptual review for 560 Avenue of Flags, the Buellton City Council met in closed session to discuss the ongoing lawsuit.
While Moriarty previously told the Sun that the average monthly rent for Farmhouse tenants ranges between $900 and $1,350, the mixed-use project at 560 Avenue of Flags plans to offer 22 market-rate apartments, two apartments fit for “moderate” incomes, and two apartments fit for “very low” incomes.
“The affordable housing that’s being provided is not something that’s insignificant. It is significant. It’s going to be two units for the very low-income residents,” Arris Studio Architects representative Thom Jess told the council. “And that’s deed-restricted from here until, essentially, the lifetime of the project. That’s going to provide housing for people in desperate need of housing.”
One concern Councilmember John Sanchez raised about Collins’ proposed 26 apartments was based on a personal preference.
“I still don’t understand the affection for no gas, no carbon. I just don’t get it,” Sanchez said after Jess confirmed that the developer anticipates offering electric kitchen stoves over gas-powered in all 26 units.
“I’m opposed to that,” Sanchez said. “We have power outages.”
For a project of this kind, Jess clarified, “we would have solar on the roof” to counter situations Sanchez is worried about.
“In addition to solar, we’d also have a battery backup,” Jess said, “so that it can power the building in the instance of a power outage for a certain amount of time.”
This article appears in August 27 – September 3, 2026.
