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RMA reduction may be advertised for public hearing next month

The Gloucester County Board of Supervisors will decide next month whether to hold a public hearing to reduce the county’s Resource Management Area. Gloucester currently has a countywide RMA, but a number of supervisors are of the mindset that the requirements could be lessened in order to make the county more attractive to small business and nonprofit organizations.

The board discussed the matter for more than an hour last Wednesday night during its meeting in the colonial courthouse, after county attorney Ted Wilmot presented the governing body with some options on how to move forward. 

The matter has caused some controversy as a number of scientists from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, including Abingdon District Supervisor Robert “JJ” Orth, have said the current ordinances aimed at protecting the Chesapeake Bay such as the countywide RMA have played a role in the increasing good health of the waterway. However, others feel lesseni...

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