Mathews County Unincorporated
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE 11
Conservation District C
§ 175-11.1 Intent.
This district is intended to protect, preserve and propagate the County's living marine environment and its natural resources. The district is intended for use in water, wetlands and shoreline areas and other areas which are not suited for development and where such development would have an adverse effect on the environment and public and private areas which have been set aside for conservation purposes. Areas within the district generally are unsuitable for development or intensive use due to soil, water or high flood hazard conditions.
§ 175-11.2 Uses permitted by right.
The following uses shall be permitted subject to all other requirements of this chapter as a matter of right in the Conservation District (C):
A.
Aids to navigation which are authorized by governmental authority.
C.
Conservation, repletion and research activities, and wildlife preserves and conservation areas of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and other related conservation agencies.
D.
Cultivation and harvesting of agricultural or horticultural products; excluding grain dryers, feeder lots, dairy barns, agricultural lagoons, poultry and hog houses and other structures or areas involving the concentrated handling or containment of animals and fowl.
E.
Cultivation and harvesting of shellfish, finfish and crustaceans.
F.
Emergency decrees of any duly appointed health officer of a governmental subdivision acting to protect the public health.
G.
Flood control devices and drainage ditches.
H.
Forestry.
I.
Governmental activity on shorelands owned or leased by the Commonwealth of Virginia, or a political subdivision thereof.
J.
Noncommercial catwalks, piers, boathouses, boat shelters, fences, duck blinds, wildlife management shelters, footbridges, observation decks and shelter and other similar structures; provided that such structures are so constructed on pilings as to permit the reasonable unobstructed flow of the tide.
K.
Noncommercial outdoor recreational activities, including hiking, boating, trapping, hunting, fishing, shell fishing, horseback riding, swimming, skeet and trap shooting and shooting preserves; provided that no structure shall be constructed except as permitted in § 175-11.1.
L.
Normal maintenance, repair or addition to presently existing roads, highways, railroad beds, or the facilities of any person, firm, corporation, utility, federal, state, or County abutting on or crossing shorelands, provided that no waterway or primary dune is altered and no additional shorelands are covered.
M.
Normal maintenance of manmade drainage ditches, provided that no additional shorelands are covered; and provided further that this subsection shall not be deemed to authorize construction of any drainage ditch.
O.
Signs, as permitted and regulated in Article 13.
P.
Utility use, minor.
[Added 2-23-2021]
§ 175-11.3 Conditional use permits.
The following uses shall be permitted in the Conservation District (C) subject to all the other requirements of this chapter, only upon the obtaining of a conditional use permit from the Board of Supervisors.
A.
Utility use, major.
[Amended 2-23-2021]
§ 175-11.4 Requirements for permitted uses.
In order to ensure that permitted uses will not harm the natural environment, no zoning permit shall be issued therefor unless and until all other required permits are first obtained from environmental protection agencies, including the Mathews County Wetlands Zoning Board, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, the State Water Control Board, the Virginia Department of Health, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and any other applicable agency.
§ 175-11.5 Area regulations for all permitted uses, except as otherwise required in Article 15.
§ 175-11.6 Height regulations.
A.
Buildings and accessory structures may be erected up to 50 feet in height.
B.
Public utility structures, church spires, belfries, cupolas, monuments, water towers, chimneys, flues, flag poles, television antenna, radio aerials, farm buildings and structures excluding dwellings, smoke stacks, observation towers are exempt. Parapet walls may be up to four feet above the height of the building on which the walls rest.
§ 175-11.7 Special provisions for corner lots.
There shall be no minimum requirement for side yards for corner lots.
§ 175-11.8 Sign regulations.
Sign regulations shall conform to Article 13 of this chapter.
§ 175-11.9 Off-street parking regulations.
There shall be no minimum off-street parking requirement.