An ongoing lawsuit prompted a two-month grace period for long-term tenants of Buellton’s Farmhouse Motel, before new housing restrictions kick in. While a recent city ordinance to help ramp up redevelopment efforts in town requires motel properties along Avenue of Flags—including Farmhouse—to convert units that house long-term renters to traditional motel rooms by October, a […]
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Developer pitches 26 apartments for Buellton’s Avenue of Flags
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 […]
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Age-restricted: Santa Maria follows the county’s lead by passing protections for senior mobile home parks
A goal to preserve affordable housing for more than 1,000 senior residents—specifically tenants of five mobile home parks in Santa Maria—prompted the city to recently refresh its zoning standards. Ahead of the new rules tailored to limit these parks’ eligibility to convert from 55-and-older to welcoming all ages, none of the five parks’ owners expressed […]
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Checkout aisle: New housing restrictions impact long-term motel tenants on one corridor in Buellton
There’s at least one framed photo in 34-year-old Cesar Garcia’s living room that tends to elicit a physiological reaction from first-time visitors. Within days of departing from the White House, Joe Biden posed with Garcia in early 2025 for a selfie at Mission Santa Ines—where the Buellton resident has regularly attended Sunday mass since he […]
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Buellton moves motel conversion rules forward
Restricting long-term housing at motel properties along the Avenue of Flags would help maximize Buellton’s efforts in revitalizing the corridor, according to city staff. In local attorney Mack Carlson’s eyes, the proposed ordinance amounts to “gentrification by policy,” he said during the Buellton City Council’s March 12 meeting. “Let’s be clear about the decision before […]
