The Virginia Department of Historic Resources has postponed the nomination for the Gwynn’s Island Historic District after several island residents, speaking at the public hearing held in May, questioned the process used for raising objections to the proposal.

Those residents were concerned about what such a designation would mean for them as property owners, and they objected to the fact that it would take half of the property owners plus one to object to the project, in writing, in order to prevent the State Review Board and Virginia Board of Historic Resources from approving the nomination.

Architectural Historian Joanna McKnight, who is overseeing the nomination for DHR, said in an email exchange that the decision to postpone the nomination was because it had been clear from the public hearing that there was “a level of misunderstanding from quite a few residents and meeting attendees regarding the nature of the honorary historic district and its implications.” She said that ...