The Mathews County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Mathews High School Media Center, 9889 Buckley Hall Road, Mathews.
The hearing will be on a request by the Mathews County Board of Supervisors that the commission examine the issue of whether placing a public park on the county’s property at 897 South Bay Haven Drive on Gwynn’s Island is “substantially in accordance” with the county’s comprehensive plan.
The board of supervisors voted unanimously in May to create a park on the 1.95-acre parcel, but commission chair Billy Cook said that state law requires that before a public park can be developed, the planning commission has to determine whether it’s in accordance with the comprehensive plan.
The property was purchased in 2016 with a FEMA Flood Hazard Mitigation Grant, and under the terms of the purchase, the property must permanently remain open space and may only be minimally developed with open-sided structures, public restrooms, a dock, and o...