One Buellton motel owner finally made good on a promise he made to the city months ago: He sued them.
Farmhouse co-owner Kerry Moriarty is asking a court to nullify an ordinance the city passed earlier this year requiring the long-term housing Moriarty and his fellow co-owners’ have provided for years to revert back to regular ol’ motel rooms—“a materially different use that has not existed on the property for decades,” the lawsuit states.
Not only that, he wants the city to pay for his legal fees, too.
You can’t say he didn’t warn them! He made the threat more than once over the last year. The Farmhouse’s complaint alleges that the motel was specifically targeted by the city “based on redevelopment and aesthetic preferences, which do not constitute a legitimate zoning rationale.”
While four motels are part of the zoning area in question, “it has the practical effect of targeting just the Farmhouse.” It’s not a new argument. It’s the same argument Moriarty’s been making since 2025.
Buellton City Manager Scott Wolfe told the Sun earlier this year that the ordinance is unique, so I guess we will see what happens. The results of this lawsuit will set precedent.
A city will either be able to kick long-term residents out of converted motel units, or it won’t.
It sounds like Buellton also might want to kick the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office off the city’s payroll. And Solvang wants to do the same.
The two cities are unsatisfied with the law enforcement services they receive for how much they’re paying. The relationship between the sheriff and the cities has been rocky over the last half-decade or longer, with costs increasing in some years by more than 20 percent. So, they’re shopping around—in Lompoc.
During the current contract’s (2023-27) negotiations, all four cities the sheriff provides contracted services to wrote official dispute letters to the department over expenses they disagreed with, such as hundreds of thousands of dollars in fixed costs for something like a narcotics investigation, whether it’s conducted or not.
The Solvang City Council was reluctant to approve the contract but felt like it had no choice.
“I can’t say with enough emphasis how frustrating it is to be confronted with the need to approve this agreement right now,” Elizabeth Orona said in 2023.
Since 2015, the amount Solvang pays for Sheriff’s Office services has doubled without any increase in services, without receiving any sort of performance metrics, without getting its law enforcement issues addressed.
In the 2026-27 fiscal year, Solvang will pay the Sheriff’s Office $3.4 million for one patrol car staffed 24/7 by 5.5 full-time equivalent deputies. The Lompoc Police Department spends $9 million a year on 51 police officers and 25 administrative staff, not to mention runs a jail, a dispatch center, fleet services, etc.
“Cost comparison, there’s no comparison,” Solvang City Manager Randy Murphy said. “We could have a third of his [Lompoc Police Chief Kevin Martin] department working in the city of Solvang for the same money.”
Seems like a no-brainer. Sheriff Bill Brown doesn’t know how to manage a budget—just ask the county Board of Supervisors—and he doesn’t seem to answer to anybody.
Time to move on.
The Canary knows the grass is greener. Send pastureland to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in June 4 – June 11, 2026.
