Two months behind schedule — and two decades in the making — Biscuit Run Park just south of Charlottesville is set to open to the public this coming Saturday.
What began as a planned 828-acre, 3,100-unit residential development, abandoned during the Great Recession, has been repurposed as a 1,200-acre park operated by Albemarle County.
Construction on the 550-acre first phase of the project began in March and was meant to open in October but was delayed.
That first phase — including more than 8 miles of hiking and biking trails, public bathrooms and a trailhead with 75 parking spaces — will open at noon Saturday. The entrance is off state Route 20-Scottsville Road just south of Avon Street.
“Biscuit Run Park is the first of its kind in Albemarle’s development area,” the county said in a statement announcing the opening. “With 80% of the park remaining forested and protected natural heritage resources, it’s the perfect place for outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds.”
The county has a 99-year lease to operate the park, a deal it has worked out with the commonwealth of Virginia and the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
“Leading up to this point, there’s been a lot of hurdles we’ve had to cross,” Steven Hoffman, a project manager with the county, told The Daily Progress back in April. “There have been multiple agencies and the land itself with the state, they’ve never done a project like this before that was this difficult.”
The difficulties stem from the project’s long, complicated history.
When private developers bought the land in 2006, they intended for most of it to be converted into a residential development. But the project became unviable when the Great Recession hit and the housing market crashed. Developers were able to recoup some of their money in 2009 by selling the land to the state for $9.8 million in cash and about $12.5 million in tax credits.
Virginia had planned to use the land for a state park, adopting an ambitious three-phase master plan in 2013 that would have cost roughly $42 million. But three years later, the General Assembly chose not to provide funding, leaving plans in limbo.
In 2018, Albemarle County made a deal with the state, leasing the land for 99 years at no cost. It adopted its own three-phase master plan in 2018, with development costs that could reach $34 million. The county tried to get $15 million in funding from the state, but its efforts fell short, leaving it to Albemarle to figure out how to construct the park on its own.
It wasn’t until this spring that construction began. The county hired local contractor Haley, Chisholm & Morris Inc. to complete Phase 1 at a cost of $3.6 million. The current budget proposal that the board of supervisors is considering would allocate an additional $9.2 million to the park over the next two fiscal years.
After more than a decade of complications, the very fact that construction got underway at all is a significant step.
“We have a deadline, we have a budget, we have a contractor that’s fully committed to getting us to the end of this project, and I really do not foresee any circumstances at this point in time to hold us up from getting to the end,” Hoffman said.
While the original state plans for the park called for campgrounds and horse trails, those have been scrapped from the county plan, which only includes trails for hiking, biking, walking and jogging.
With the county needing to find ways to either fund the park itself or petition the state for financial help, it could be years or even decades before all 1,200 acres are available to the public. But when that day comes, Biscuit Run will easily be the largest park property in Albemarle, nearly twice as big as the second largest, containing historic trails, basketball courts, a mountain biking course, grass playing fields, playgrounds, dog parks, gardens, waterways, boardwalks and bridges.
“Despite having a convenient location, this park contains extensive natural areas, natural heritage resources, and scenic landscapes that are generally uncommon so close to Charlottesville and Albemarle County’s Development Area,” reads a statement on the county website. “This long-anticipated park will help elevate our local quality of life, support public health and personal wellness, and contribute to our local economic vitality.”
Effective Saturday, park hours will run from 7 a.m. until sundown every day.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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