The Mathews County Planning Commission wasted no time Tuesday night giving its unanimous stamp of approval to a request by Rhetson Companies LLC for a conditional use permit to place a 12,480-square-foot Dollar General store on Twiggs Ferry Road in the Cobbs Creek area of the county. The site would be behind the existing Fas Mart convenience store, rather than beside it, as was previously proposed.

The decision came after a joint public hearing on the matter with Mathews supervisors. The next step will be for supervisors to decide whether the project warrants approval. That vote could come as soon as next Tuesday, during the board’s regular monthly meeting beginning at 6 p.m. in the historic courthouse on Court Street.

During the public hearing, Mathews Planning and Zoning Director James Knighton explained that the proposed store is larger than the 7,500-square-foot structure that could be built by right on the site, without a conditional use permit.

Knighton said the new sto...