HOW WE GOT TO THIS POINT IN TIME

About 1948, the State of California informed Mariposa County that it
should begin developing a General Plan. Court decisions had
determined that land use planning was a state, not Federal,
responsibility. Mariposa County actually acquired a legal firm from
San Francisco, Koretsky-King, to begin the process. A Planning
Commission of a sort was formed but without staff or a budget. In
other words, the county wanted to fulfill the letter of the law if
not the spirit. Much in the same way that earlier Boards ignored the
County of Origin legislation in the l880's, was leaving Mariposa
County without water rights.

Until the late l970's and the hiring of Bob Borchard, our first
Planning Director, the Planning Commission had to address residential
properties without standards and specifications. Attempts to create
any land use regulation created considerable controversy. Only
Agricultural Exclusive zoning was created, lead by Supervisor Frank
Long. But the rest of the attempt was blocked by, hard to believe,
mining interests in Mariposa County. The Western Mining Council
representatives in the county packed the Board room any time attempts
were made to address the state requirement. The up shot of all this
disagreement between the practically non existent mining industry and
the Board resulted in the creation of Ordinance 180 which essentially
zoned the rest of the county other than AE, as unclassified. A small
area in the town of Mariposa actually got residential zoning but that
was it. Some concessions were made to non-mining land uses such as
chicken ranches, hog farms, garbage dumps and junk yards, which all
required use permits, but nothing else was applied to non Ag lands.

It is interesting that Ag lands were protected first but that was a
reflection on the economic importance of agriculture to the county.
Prior to Prop 13, agricultural lands in the county paid the bills.
Government was much smaller with few social programs, no new cars or
offices. The population in the county in l960 was 5054. What
changed the concern about land use was not agriculture, or even
mining which would never make a return to the prior to WWI level, but
major, speculative, subdivisions advanced not by Mariposa County
residents, but developers from elsewhere.
Our lack of Planning made us vulnerable to speculative development.
First was Lake Don Pedro, then came Lush Meadows and on until the
final development of high density subdividing with Mariposa Pines and
Yosemite West. Some of these subdivisions came with infrastructure,
often water systems, but almost none came with a fully functioning
sewer system.

Most were designed with lots or parcels large enough to meet the
state requirements for septic tanks. Only Yosemite West had a sewer
system and it took years and lots of investment to make it fully
functioning. The town of Coulterville acquired a sewer plant in the
hopes that it would stimulate growth that never came. Today their
sewer plant is a burden on the people of Coulterville and the county.
At first the roads within these subdivisions were to be accepted by
the county for maintenance. Again, with the exception of Yosemite
West, this was the case. A later subdivision in Fish Camp provided
many of its own services. But with the adoption of Prop 13 and the
fixing of the counties share of the property tax, it became obvious
that these roads could not be maintained to modern standards with
just the taxes collected from each parcel. Development was slow in
all but Ponderosa Basin and Mariposa Pines. The smaller size of
these subdivisions helped in many ways. Also, in the case of
Ponderosa Basin, the developer lived and directed the growth of the
subdivision, creating a community with quality services. Nothing of
the like happened elsewhere. Bankruptcies and selling of the
projects left the new home owners to fend for themselves through the
use of small community service districts or road maintenance
associations. The quality of service often was determined by the
number of users and the slow growth.

In the l980's, Mariposa County sued the developer of Yosemite West,
winning a sum of money based on the inadequately of the sewer system.
The county chose to use the money won, not on the sewer plant, but on
snow removal equipment. The growth of Yosemite West as a second home
community which had the ability for managers to rent the homes as
vacation properties, helped develop the subdivision. In fact, when
first formed, Yosemite West was sold to investors as a place where
one could have a second home that could be rented seasonally to help
pay for its construction.
Difficulties began occurring when full time residents began to resent
the seasonal use of the homes. A town planning document now being
considered attempts to reverse the Vacation Home trend which will
ultimately lead to more difficulties for the subdivision.

The history of Mariposa County is based primarily on natural
resource development. Timber, gold and subsistence agriculture were
the economic engines. When the main mines in the county closed just
prior to WWI, the towns of Mariposa and Coulterville began to seem
shabby. Business closed as there were no longer any jobs in the
mining industry. Small family owned saw mills offered some work, but
they also were only able to support the immediate families. Seasonal
jobs in logging saw mills, in Yosemite and the like kept the families
afloat with the augmentation of their own subsistence ag production.
Once in a while a crop of hogs or cattle were sold but cash was
always in short supply. The life of the town of Mariposa changed
with the advent of Hwy 140, the All Year Highway to Yosemite Valley.
The Yosemite Valley Railroad, up the Merced River Canyon, provided
employment at a number of points. First it was the visitors to
Yosemite that rode the train, but the advent of the highway curtailed
passenger counts. The train, however, survived until almost WWII by
the logging of the giant Sugar Pine Trees. Two different inclines in
the Merced River Canyon, one at El Portal and the other at Incline
(Indian Flat) delivered the logs to the railroad for the trip to the
mill at Merced Falls.
During the life of the railroad such resources as timber, barium,
limestone and gold kept the line alive. With the depletion of the
timber and the purchase by Henry J. Kaiser of the limestone quarry,
the railroad declined, to be stopped completely by first a flood in
l937, and then WWII.
By the end of l946 the rolling stock had been sold and the rails
picked up to be sold as scrap. That spelled the end of an era of
industrial development based on natural resource development.
Over the years we have seen the development of various kinds of
small scale agriculture. Only a few of the original poultry
operations still exist. Large flocks of sheep, goats and hogs no
longer survive the corporate control of much of agriculture. Small scale cattle operations still exist on land that can not afford debt, but is subsidized by the
Williamson Act which gives a tax break to these lands. As time goes
on the true value of the Williamson Act will be the protection of
Open Space which was one of the principals justifying the Act in the
first place. Conservation easements are also valuable as they remove
the development potential of Ag lands.

Two General Plans have been adopted for Mariposa County, one in l980
and the second in 2006. In order for these General Plans to be
considered legal for use they must be accompanied by a Zoning
Document, called Title 17 in this county that is consistent with the
standards and specification of the General Plan. To not have that
consistency risks the county to suit preventing normal development
permits being issue. So far no one has used that possibility to
block a project, but the potential exists. While the Board of
Supervisors has directed the Planning Department to proceed with the
adoption of a consistent Title 17, this has not occurred.
The evolution of our society and our economic society has brought us to
the point where there are three economic activities in our county
that form the basis for a very out of balance base. Compare the
roughly $240 million tourism and private business industry to
approximately $80 million Government of all classes, to approximately
$10 million in Agriculture. The Board of Supervisors knows full well
what pays the bills in this county. Fifty years ago it was cattle,
and we were proud to be known as a "Cow County". Before that it was
timber and gold. Now it is the tourist. We have made steep strides
in the development of that industry but it must require a bid of
common sense.

First of all, we are back to a form or resource development. Our
environment. We must be careful to not impose too much pressure on
our scenery. There must be, if we are to preserve the quality of
life for the citizens of our county, a diversity of economic units
spreading the visitation over a wider landscape, utilizing the
opportunities that the various seasons and activities afford us.
Development of isolated recreational uses of Ag land is not a bad
thing. It offers a larger opportunity to stabilize our year around
economy. The folks who support AgriNature activities have it right
but there needs to be more of them doing a greater diversity of
activities; and closer together. Napa County understands this and
promotes the small operations which resemble another form of Home
Enterprise (which we promote in residential zones) to occur anywhere
that it is appropriate. The Right to Farm Ordinance was designed to
protect small agricultural operations in residential zones. Good thing
as I was raising wine grapes at the time and have always had
livestock or fruit production in a residential zone. But the same
freedom must be accorded in the Ag. Zones which would be appropriate
to the environment in which they are contained. Our AE zone
standards recognized this by the requirement of use permits, but they
should be able to be considered in a thoughtful environment. It must
be understood that the success of such a venture must be accessible
and the terrain appropriate to the needs of the operation. To
prevent a producer from having a retail outlet for products developed
on the land is not what we had in mind. What else is, that to have a
successful retail venture one must be able to deliver a variety of
product, some of which might come from another location. All for the
success of the venture. Unsuccessful operations do not hire help.

What has happened to us is that our planning process has been
permeated by the lack of progress. Title 17 is not upgraded and
projects adopted years ago by a department headed up by a discredited
Planning Director should not be delayed further. These projects were
adopted with conditions by the Planning Commission and the Board of
Supervisors and they should not have to undergo interminable delays
at the hands of bureaucratic tinkering. Quite clearly, the people
through the decision of their direct representatives and the courts
have made this clear.
Our schools are declining in enrolment. This is a symptom of both an
aging population and a loss of economic vigor. We must understand
this and move to a course correction.

Leroy Radanovich

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Leroy Radanovich

To Read More By Leroy Radanovich:
Leroy Radanovich's Mariposa Life Archives

To learn much more about Mariposa County along with
historical photos:
A signed copy of "Images of America" - Mariposa County,
By Leroy Radanovich can be purchased at his web site:
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This is a early day photo of the Mariposa Mine in
Mariposa County that is mentioned in the article to
the left by Mr. Radanovich.

This photo and others can be purchased in various sizes.
All prints are archivally printed on fiber based paper, given a selenium wash which renders the photographs permanent with a warm tone ready for framing
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Mariposa in 1920

This photo and others can be purchased in various sizes.
All prints are archivally printed on fiber based paper, given a selenium wash which renders the photographs permanent with a warm tone ready for framing
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Mariposa County Courthouse written by Leroy Radanovich and
Scott Pinkerton is a book about the oldest courthouse in California that is still in use today.
The book is signed by Leroy Radanovich.
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Mariposa in 1860

This photo and others can be purchased in various sizes.
All prints are archivally printed on fiber based paper, given a selenium wash which renders the photographs permanent with a warm tone ready for framing
Radanovich Galleria & Books