The Mariposa County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 7 approved a multi‑part land‑use package that cancels the Williamson Act contract on a 225.46‑acre Jerseydale property, rezones it to the Timber Exclusive Zone (TEZ), and authorizes a parcel merger and lot‑line adjustment to create two similarly sized parcels for family distribution.

Planning staff said the property has been managed historically for timber production and that the county’s general plan land‑use designation, Ag Working Landscape, allows the TEZ as an appropriate implementing zoning district. The action follows an earlier notice of non‑renewal for that portion of the county’s Contract No. 18 filed in 2017.

Sarah Williams, senior planning staff, told the board the project includes immediate cancellation of the contract portion encumbering the Jerseydale acreage, rezoning from Agricultural Exclusive (AE) to Timber Exclusive, a parcel merger reducing irregular lot lines and a lot‑line adjustment to create two parcels of roughly equal size. The planning commission and the county’s Agricultural Advisory Committee recommended approval after concluding timber production is the parcel’s appropriate working use and that the change would not remove agricultural land from productive use.

The state’s Timber Exclusive program requires parcels to meet stocking standards — a measure of merchantable tree counts and forest site quality — or to sign an agreement to achieve those standards within a statutory timeframe. The county’s recommended conditions include a plan and schedule to bring fire‑damaged acreage into compliance with stocking requirements; about 25% of the site was affected by the Oak Fire and does not currently meet stocking standards, staff said.

Forester Kirby Mullen, who has worked with the family’s property for decades, explained that stocking standards are set by Cal Fire (the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) and are enforced through forest practice rules, pre‑harvest inspections and timber harvest planning. He described the process of preparing a non‑industrial timber management plan and ongoing inspections by state forestry personnel.

Several procedural steps remain: the rezoning requires ordinance adoption on a second reading, and the county and property owners must finalize the TEZ agreement and any required forestry plans. The board approved the Williamson Act cancellation and related merger/lot‑line requests in a 4‑0 vote (Supervisor Kaiser was excused). The related rezoning ordinance was introduced and will return for final adoption on the second reading.

Board members praised the property owners and planning staff for the multi‑agency work that led to the recommendation, and the board’s action will allow the family to complete the planned transfer of parcels while preserving timberland management under state forestry oversight.