The Mathews County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 last Wednesday, June 18, to hold a public hearing on a proposal to sell the Hole in the Wall Waterfront Grill on Gwynn’s Island. The decision came after a closed session following the regular meeting. Casting the dissenting votes were Dave Jones and Mike Walls.

Supervisor Tom Bowen, who made the motion, said his idea was that the sale would include only the land under the building’s footprint, while the public boat ramp and piers and the adjacent parking lot would remain county property. He suggested further that the property be sold as-is, subject to any planning and zoning or building violations, and that the purchaser would be responsible for pump-and-haul and anything that might be wrong with the septic or the building. He said the sale should be subject to the current lease, with the restaurant retaining the same access to parking it has now.

“It would get us out of the restaurant business, and we could collect taxes on the property,” he said.

Bowen also suggested that the county have a real estate agent provide a fair market value for the property prior to advertising for the public hearing.

Earlier in the meeting, Bowen, without explaining why, had moved to adopt a resolution referring a proposed ordinance to the planning commission that would exempt the county from zoning and subdivision requirements. County attorney Andrea Erard explained that many localities exempt themselves from such requirements, but the motion failed on a 3-2 vote, supported only by Bowen and supervisor Janice Phillips.

Walls and Jones both said they believed the county should adhere to the same rules as the residents of the county, with Jones expressing the opinion that such an action would negate any notices of violation that had been brought against 384 Old Ferry Road, the address of Hole in the Wall Waterfront Grill. Chairman Tim Doss voted against the motion, as well.

After the closed session, Bowen moved that the board reconsider his original motion and send the resolution exempting the county to the planning commission for consideration. The motion passed on a 3-2 vote, with Doss supporting it this time.

In a subsequent interview, Bowen explained that the county’s zoning ordinance does not allow for such a small commercial lot. The board has two options for selling the restaurant separately from the rest of the land, he said. It could create an ordinance allowing for smaller lots or it could do as he suggested and exempt the county from zoning requirements altogether.

“We’re trying to find a way to comply with the zoning legal issues,” he said. “A lot of communities exempt themselves. It would be a quick fix.”

Bowen also pointed out that the board held a closed session during the May 15 meeting and, after returning to open session, entertained a similar motion by Jones to refer a text amendment to the planning commission to exempt the county from zoning subdivision requirements. That motion was approved unanimously, but Bowen said the county attorney suggested that a resolution was needed instead. He said he had no idea why Jones and Walls supported the motion the first time but were against it the second time.

After the meeting last Wednesday, Walls and Jones were asked why they voted against the proposal to have the public hearing. Jones said he wanted the matter to go before the planning commission first for “due diligence,” while Walls said his vote was “about the boat ramp.”

“We have not discussed enforcing parking over there,” said Walls. “The lease says nine parking spots and I want the remaining parking spots to be for boat trailers only. I wanted a commitment on how to enforce boat parking only.”

According to the terms of the lease with Hole in the Wall, the tenants, Mac Casale and Dean Tsamouras, have the right of first refusal if the property is sold. They will be entitled to a credit in the amount of any increase in the value of the property because of capital improvements they made to the structure. The value of the property was set at $126,100 as of the date of the deed. The tenants were required to invest at least $138,000 in capital improvements, including elevating the building out of the flood plain.

South Bay Haven park proposal

After a groundswell of opposition to the board’s decision in May to move forward with park amenities on the county-owned property at the end of South Bay Haven Drive on Gwynn’s Island, the board revisited the issue at the June meeting.

Bay Haven residents, who were taken by surprise by the decision because the subject had not been included on the board’s May agenda, showed up at the June meeting to let board members know how they felt. During public comment period, several residents once again outlined objections to a public dock, porta potties, and having vehicles with trailers parking on the previously residential two-acre lot that the county obtained with FEMA hazard mitigation funding.

Residents also questioned the lack of an environmental assessment, the lack of public notice before the decision was made, and the open-ended nature of the motion, which left room for further development. They said they did not object to such amenities as picnic tables, parking places, the launching of canoes and kayaks, and, said Susan Bonner, “people enjoying the beauty of nature.”

“There will be many people who use this park who aren’t taxpayers,” said Jerry Ligon. “The taxpayer should have the input on how the land is used.”

During the board’s discussion of the matter, Doss apologized to the speakers for not responding to an email he had received from one of them, and he said he would personally visit anyone’s house to talk to them about issues they’re concerned about.

Walls, who made the motion at the May meeting, said that there had been misinformation regarding the issue, and that the board would reconsider the issue after remanding it to the planning commission.

Jones said he would make sure the process was stopped and expressed concern “about how we got to this point.”

“When you get bad information, you should want to make it right,” he said. “The board will do what’s right.”

Phillips said it was appropriate to revisit the issue and that she hoped to come up with a compromise that would suit everyone.

Bowen said that he agreed with the residents that the board needed to understand that the park is in a residential area and if it’s going to be used as public property, it needs to be maintained, and that law enforcement needs an enforceable ordinance in place. He proposed that development be halted until the board gets more input.

A resolution was unanimously adopted to have the planning commission conduct a public hearing and determine whether or not the proposed location of the park is “substantially in accordance with” the county’s comprehensive plan.
Walls said he would be in favor of imposing restrictions on use of the park that would give the sheriff’s office enforcement capabilities, but the county attorney said that separate actions would be required if the board wanted to impose restrictions on use of the park or take any other action beyond determining whether it was in accordance with the comprehensive plan.

In other matters, the board:

—Voted unanimously to have a public hearing on a request by the Mathews County Historical Society to renew its lease of Tompkins Cottage for 25 years;

—Voted unanimously that the pay increase for county employees not apply to the county administrator, but that a salary increase be determined during the performance evaluation for the position;

—Voted 4–1, Walls dissenting, to table a decision on adopting a text amendment regarding the prohibition of solar farms and to send it back to the planning and zoning director to be further defined;

—Appropriated the FY2026 budget on a 4–1 vote, Jones dissenting on the grounds that he wasn’t convinced all revenue streams had been accounted for;

—Heard from County Administrator Ramona Wilson that nine properties had been identified as potential disposal sites for dredging in Davis Creek, and that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had agreed with the top three, but that the timeline for the project is six years, and

—Made the following appointments: Joanna Ball to the Mathews Memorial Library Board of Trustees and Kevin Hogge, a reappointment, to the Department of Social Services Board.