The Mathews County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors will hold a joint public hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the historic courthouse on Court Street. Under consideration will be proposed changes to the zoning ordinance regarding short-term vacation rentals.

The changes as proposed by the planning and zoning department would make such short-term rentals by-right uses in the RU (rural), R-1 (waterfront residential) and R-2 (off-water residential) zoning districts, but would establish special regulations to mitigate possible impacts on adjoining properties and the surrounding neighborhood.

Specifically, the proposed changes would delete current references to tourist homes and summer or vacation cabins. Instead, all such uses would be replaced with the term “short-term vacation rental,” which would be defined as: “An accommodation for transient guests where, in exchange for compensation, a single-family dwelling is rented for lodging for a period of time not to...