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.
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.
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]
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]
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.
There shall be no minimum requirement for side yards for corner
lots.
Sign regulations shall conform to Article 13 of this chapter.
There shall be no minimum off-street parking requirement.