The Madera County Board of Supervisors adopted a second‑reading ordinance Jan. 13 to amend Chapter 14.04 of the County Code to reflect the state’s new uniform building code cycle. The vote was unanimous, recorded as 5‑0.

Planner Jamie Backs said the ordinance is a cleanup to ensure county code is consistent with the state code cycles that went into effect Jan. 1. "This is a second reading of the code update... this is simply a cleanup of that code section to recognize anytime we do update the code or the state does up the code, we are consistent with those code cycles," Backs told the board.

Board discussion focused on permit streamlining. One supervisor spoke in favor of developing more preapproved plans for common projects—examples mentioned included ADUs (some already grant‑funded) and standard garage or carport plans—to reduce engineering review time and lower costs for property owners. Public commenter John Perot suggested using AI tools to automate routine permitting tasks: "With the advance of AI... we could probably streamline a lot of stuff and get a lot of stuff done and save some money," he said.

Staff response: Backs said the county will explore grant opportunities to develop more preapproved plans and noted prior ADU preapproved plans were grant funded.

Outcome: The board moved to adopt the ordinance and approved it by roll call vote 5‑0. The transcript records public comments and staff commitments to explore preapproved plans and funding options, but does not specify a timeline for producing additional plans.

Provenance: Planner presentation, board discussion, public comment, and roll call on the ordinance.