The Mathews County Planning Commission will hold a joint public hearing with the Mathews County Board of Supervisors at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the historic courthouse to consider three matters: a text amendment to the zoning ordinance on administrative variances, a request for a conditional use permit, and a request for an amendment to an existing conditional use permit.

Planning and zoning director John Shaw has proposed that his office be given the authority to grant administrative variances in certain instances. He told the planning commission in February that there are still approximately 2,500 non-conforming lots of record in Mathews that don’t comply with the minimum lot area requirements that were established when the county adopted its zoning ordinance in 1987. In addition, there are lots that don’t meet minimum setback and rear and side yard requirements, he said.

These constraints mean that a property owner or developer can’t develop certain lots without being granted a variance by the board of zoning appeals, said Shaw. The process for requesting such a variance requires an application fee of $275; a public hearing that has to be advertised, with the applicant paying for the cost of advertising; notification in writing of all adjoining property owners; and a public hearing before the Board of Zoning Appeals.

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