By a 5-1 margin, the Mathews County Planning Commission on Tuesday gave its support to an application for a conditional use permit for a tourist home, Belmont, in a small residential neighborhood on Belmont Lane at North.

The application will be considered by the board of supervisors during a meeting at 1 p.m. Tuesday in the historic courthouse on Court Street.

The decision followed a joint public hearing held with county supervisors at which neighbors protested allowing a private home in a neighborhood with deeded covenants to be rented to tourists for up to seven days a week. Supporting the application, however, were other property owners throughout the county who rent their homes to visitors, several as part of a local “cottage guest program.”

The application was also backed by planning and zoning director John Shaw.

The property owners, Marianne and Scott Gibbs, were represented by Gloucester attorney John Singleton. He told supervisors and planning commissioners th...