Bart Connor, Mariposa County code compliance technician, told the Code Compliance Advisory Committee on June 13 that the county currently shows 530 open cases in the case log and 277 cases recorded in the Tyler case-management system.

Connor said staff have closed roughly 149 cases since last January and walked the committee through category counts for new and closed cases. He reported new-case counts for 2024 that include 95 “BWOPs” (building without permit) cases, 12 cannabis-related cases, eight transient occupancy/short‑term rental (TOT) cases, 24 junk/accumulation cases, 16 recreational vehicle cases, four substandard-housing cases and a small number of grading and fire cases. He said closed-by-category totals include 58 BWOPs, 24 cannabis, 19 TOT, 18 junk, 12 RV, five substandard-housing, two attractive-nuisance and two grading closures.

Connor said a persistent subset of properties remains: “I’d probably call them noncompliant citizens — I’ve probably got two dozen in mind that I’m working with. The ones that are really just noncompliant, I would say is probably down to six,” Connor said. He added that another group of property owners cannot afford needed repairs and “we’re kind of at a stalemate” in those cases.

Committee members and staff described operational steps to address the backlog. Connor said the county is migrating older records into the Tyler system and is cataloging and organizing cases by town and issue to make field work more efficient. He said staff typically plan inspection routes (for example, “if I’m going out to Dogtown … I will punch up Dogtown on my log and see what pops up”) to reduce travel time and resolve multiple cases in the same area.

Several members thanked Connor for outreach and responsiveness. Colleen Rhodes, a committee member, told Connor that people he recently investigated “were thrilled with you,” adding that citizens reported he had been “fair” and “fast.” Committee members also asked about specific categories: Connor explained that the county’s “fire” cases typically stem from structure fires reported by Mariposa Fire or CAL FIRE and that cleanup requires coordination with Environmental Health and insurers before demolition or remediation can proceed.

Connor said the county has approximately 1,500 historical files being reviewed as part of the Tyler migration; he estimated 92 cases opened so far in 2025 and noted that 51 of those stem from building-department referrals. He said staff plan to contact owners of expired permits to allow them to resolve issues and obtain final certificates where possible.

Committee members asked about enforcement tools for recalcitrant owners. Connor said administrative hearings, cost recovery and the ability to place liens for cleanup costs are options other counties use and that the county will explore administrative paths for severe health-and-safety problems.

The committee did not take a formal vote on enforcement policy during this update; the presentation served as an operational briefing and scoping of outstanding work for staff.