In the wake of the Mathews County Board of Supervisors’ July 10 eviction of Hole in the Wall Waterfront Grill from county-owned property on Gwynn’s Island, owners of the restaurant have refiled a suit against the board of supervisors as a whole and individually against supervisors Dave Jones and Mike Walls “in their capacity as ‘private citizens’ and in their capacity as members of the board.”
While the previous suit, filed in 2023, sought $10 million in compensatory damages, the current suit is seeking $20 million in compensatory damages individually, including “three-fold any damages sustained by the plaintiff.” Both suits asked for an additional $350,000 per defendant, or $1.05 million, in punitive damages.
The current suit alleges malicious prosecution and abuse of process against all three defendants “arising out of their combined efforts in initiating and bringing zoning proceedings and threatening civil claims against plaintiff for spurious zoning violations.” It states that the...