Planning Commission

Overview

Citizens are appointed to four-year terms. 

Per §15.2-2210 of the Code of Virginia, all localities are required to create a local planning commission.  The Commission serves in an advisory role to the Board to help promote the orderly development of the County.  The Commission’s duties include preparing and recommending a Comprehensive Plan, preparing and recommending a Capital Improvement Program, and providing a recommendation to the Board for a variety of land use matters.   

The Planning Commission holds joint public hearings with the Board of Supervisors for several development related applications, including conditional use permits, zoning text amendments, and zoning map amendments.  

Conditional Use Permits (CUPs) are permits that cannot be approved by staff and must be approved by the Board. CUPs include uses that might have impacts to adjoining properties, and therefore, the Commission may recommend conditions on how that use may be conducted.  The Board has broad discretion to either approve a permit request with conditions to ensure the use is compatible with the surrounding area or to deny the permit request.

Zoning Text Amendments are changes to the text of the zoning ordinance.  Changing the text of the ordinance might change which uses are permissible in a certain district, what acreage or setbacks are required in a certain district, or any number of additional land use regulations that might apply the County.  

Zoning Map Amendments (rezonings) are changes to the zoning district map of the County.  Changing the zoning district in which a parcel lies changes what uses can and cannot be conducted on that parcel and the development density of the parcel.

In each of the applications, the Commission makes a recommendation to the Board based on the materials in the application, citizen input, and the Comprehensive Plan.  The Commission has 70 days to make this recommendation to the Board.  Once the Board receives the Commission’s recommendation, the Board has 100 days to act on the matter. Only a motion of the Board or Commission, or a requesting citizen may initiate any of the above described processes. Thus, the shared role in making decisions on these land use applications is of great consequence in the overall development and character of the County.  Along with budgeting and taxation, land use decision-making is one of the Board’s greatest areas of legislative discretion.

• Chapter 175, Article 18, of the Mathews County Code of Ordinances, provides the framework for Administrative Bodies and Their Responsibilities.
• Planning Commission Bylaws (PDF) 
• Planning Commission Code of Conduct-adopted February 17, 2009
• Section 15.2-2212, of the Code of Virginia, 1950 as amended, provides the framework for local Planning Commissions.