The Mathews County Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission held a joint meeting in the Harry M. Ward Auditorium at Mathews High School Monday night to hold two public hearings, both of which drew community interest.

The first hearing was on a request to rezone 1909 Buckley Hall Road beside FasMart in Dutton from Rural to Business-2. The applicant, Rhetson Companies, Inc., requested that the 28.37-acre vacant property be rezoned.

According to planning and zoning documents, the company “has proposed a conceptual plan with retail fronting Buckley Hall Rd., commercial fronting a portion of Twiggs Ferry Rd. and multi-family residential fronting a portion of Twiggs Ferry Rd. towards the rear of the lot.”

John Parker, project manager for Rhetson, said that the company wants the project to reflect the needs of the community. Parker also reassured the boards and the gathered crowd that Rhetson does not want to build a Walmart on the property and the company does not even work wit...