The Mathews County Planning Commission on Tuesday night voted unanimously to recommend that the Mathews County Board of Supervisors approve a change to the zoning ordinance that would make museums a by-right use in the Village Mixed Use Zoning District.

The decision came after a joint public hearing with the supervisors during which the only members of the public who spoke regarding the proposed change were Josephine Thorpe, registered agent for property on Main Street that is being converted into the Mathews Historical Museum, and John Caramia, chairman of the board of the museum. No one raised any objections to the proposal.

Under the current zoning ordinance, museums are only allowed with a conditional use permit. Planning and Zoning Director Thomas Jenkins told the two boards that museums are by-right uses in the rural and off-water residential districts, but not in the VMU District, which is located downtown, in the most densely developed part of the county. He said that a museu...