Gwynn’s Island property owners Mark and Candy Eubank of Doswell have been ordered by retired Mathews Circuit Court Judge William H. Shaw III to remove additions to their cottage at the corner of Sweet Gum Drive and Old Ferry Road.

In a letter dated Dec. 14, Shaw found that the Mathews County Board of Zoning Appeals had “properly denied” two variance requests that the Eubanks had made.

These variances were for an 8’ x 26’ addition to enlarge a previously-existing porch on the water side of their house and an 8’ x 8’ portion of an open-air side deck that was connected to that porch. The additions encroach on the RPA and the county’s 20-foot side yard setback. The Eubanks had appealed these decisions to the court.

The judge also found that the BZA had “improperly granted” two variances, one for an 8’ x 14’ triangular-shaped deck that encroaches on the 40-foot roadside setback and one for an 8’ x 10’ enl...