The Mathews County Planning Commission met Tuesday night in the historic courthouse to discuss proposed changes to the county’s zoning ordinance governing inoperable vehicles, with planners ultimately declining to make a recommendation to the board of supervisors.

Under present zoning, an inoperable vehicle being repaired at a permitted repair business may be kept at such property for no more than 60 continuous days, or the vehicle being repaired must be kept within a fully enclosed building or structure.

Planning and Zoning staff presented the planners and supervisors at a joint meeting in February with three potential options to change the text amendment. The first option would allow auto repair businesses to extend inoperable vehicle stays to 180 continuous days; the second option would cap the number of inoperable vehicles on the property to 15, with no time limit for length of stay; and the third option would do away with restrictions on the length of stay of inoperable veh...