Sign of the times

County planners are working on a refresh for signage in the town of Mariposa.

They’re hoping it will be a sign of the times: Something contemporary, but still charming; and not too kitschy.

A look that symbolically captures small town life in the Sierra foothills.

The county is offering up two separate visual concepts that it calls County Courthouse and Mariposa Butterfly.

The signage is part of the broader Mariposa Town Transit and Economic Development Initiative that is being guided by a 10-member advisory committee.

The group is seeking community input on the new signage, parking improvements and new bus shelters.

An online survey is open until June 15.

County planner Will Fassett said the group thought about ways signage could be more visually cohesive and encourage people to visit shops, museums and amenities in the town of Mariposa.

County staff have already conducted a small survey of 137 people with the two sign choices.

About 60 percent liked the Mariposa Butterfly concept, in shades of brown and burnt orange, with a butterfly motif on the back of the sign.

County Courthouse, in shades of forest green with a bottom trim featuring geometric forms, had support from 35 percent of those polled. Only 5 percent didn’t care for either option.

“On this kind of project you want that kind of mandate,” said Mariposa County Supervisor Shannon Poe during a presentation to the board last month.

Poe said he preferred Mariposa Butterfly, but was flexible.

“Either one. Both are beautiful,” he said.

Although he did have an opinion about the font because many people have personal opinions about fonts.

Poe recommended Copperplate Gothic, a personal favorite, he said, over the current fonts of Highway Clearview and Highway Gothic.

The initiative is also looking at other potential transit projects, including 25 locations for sidewalks and four locations for crossings.

Business owners have criticized the county’s upkeep of existing sidewalks and “sidewalks that lead to nowhere.”

Parking in town is another issue being explored under the initiative.

A December 2025 inventory of parking in the town of Mariposa found 168 on-street parking stalls and 327 off-street parking stalls, both public and private.

County staff maintain there is generally adequate access to parking, but there are “turnover challenges,” and a problem on the weekends with drivers circling town looking for a parking space.

The county is exploring improved signage to public parking lots and considering two to three hour limits for on-street parking. Currently, only 30 on-street parking stalls have a two-hour limit.

Businesses in the historic downtown area remain frustrated that there aren’t lines painted for parking stalls along Highway 140, a decision that county staff said is up to Caltrans, which has authority over the state highway right-of-way.

Another project under consideration is an improved Midtown Mariposa Transit stop for YARTS.

Conceptual drawings show shelters on either side of Highway 140.

County staff suggested YARTS would seek approval and funding from Caltrans if there is interest in new bus shelters.

In addition to the survey, there will also be focus groups in the fall with another round of public engagement for the Mariposa Town Transit and Economic Development Initiative. The plans should be complete by January 2027.

The planning work is funded through a Caltrans Sustainable Communities grant aimed at improving transit, enhancing pedestrian safety and creating a more intuitive parking system.

The goal is to do all that while maintaining the towns historic character.

A design team will provide a cost estimate to the county this summer.

Where that money will come from is still to be determined. But county officials seemed confident the money would be available through Caltrans.