Editor, Gazette-Journal:

The Mathews County Board of Supervisors held a meeting last month where the issue of Heritage Park was under discussion. Normally, a park is not a controversial issue, but in this case the property rights of individual citizens in this county are being threatened to facilitate public access to this park.

The landowners surrounding the 10-acre parcel in question do not wish to surrender their property for 24-hour public access to this park in a very secluded area. The taking of these landowners’ property would be for the benefit of the very small number of active kayakers in our county.

Taking a person’s property should be a serious matter for serious projects. Taking property for the personal enjoyment of a very few people should not be allowed. Would other citizens want to see their property taken if someone set up a couple of horseshoe pits for their friends to barbecue on, but did so on property that had limited access?

The proponents of the ...