After withdrawing his plans for a mixed use development in Mathews Court House, county resident and developer Walter Alford expressed concern this week about the future of the downtown area.

Alford, who developed Town Center as a principal in HARC LLC, had been working with county planning and zoning director John Shaw to come up with a plan to put mixed retail and residential units on the property that currently houses Christie’s Auto.

The plan involved razing the garage on the back part of the Main Street building and putting a bed and breakfast facility in the showroom area, then building 16 residential townhouses and three residential garden units with tuck-under parking on the back part of that property. Adjacent property owner Scott Riley would develop six additional garden units on his property. Alford also proposed placing eight duplex units on a parcel across the street that had been a used car lot.

In order to make the plan work, Alford had asked the county to a...