The issue of the road and the public landing at Williams Wharf is now settled. The recent approval by Mathews County to return ownership to the Mathews Land Conservancy, and to ask the state to abandon a portion of the road that runs to the water, took care of that.

The conservancy can now continue with its plans to complete its showcase for human-powered water sports. It is a local treasure. And thanks to the county’s insistence, after supervisors viewed petitions with hundreds of signatures and heard pleas from residents at public hearings, a measure of public access has been ensured.

The wheels of this transfer were set in motion in 1994, when the county entered into a temporary ownership agreement with the conservancy to receive federal funds for the improvement. The funds, hundreds of thousands of public tax dollars, have been received and put to use. The county has now bowed out.

We grant that the "public landing" at Williams Wharf had not been used or eve...