Fifteen years ago, then Governor Tim Kaine presided over a plan to buy 1,200 acres of land in Albemarle’s southern growth area in order to eventually open a state park. This Saturday, Albemarle County will finally open the first phase of a park run by the locality.
“This nearly 1,200-acre park, located just minutes outside of Charlottesville in Albemarle County, offers access to extensive natural areas and scenic landscapes,” writes Abbey Stumpf, Albemarle’s director of communications and public engagement. “This first phase includes over 8 miles of multi-use trails, a trailhead with 75 parking spaces, and public restrooms, providing a welcoming space for outdoor recreation.”
What is happening is very different from what Albemarle Supervisors had expected in September 2007 when they voted to rezone about a third of the land for what would have been hundreds of homes as well as non-residential space.
Developer Hunter Craig had purchased the land known as Biscuit Run in 2006 for $46.2 million and opted to sell the land to the state in late 2009 for $9.8 million as well as a series of tax credits worth $12.48 million. Charlottesville Tomorrow broke the story back then if you want to go back and read how the information was presented at the time.
The idea had been for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to program the park and the government agency led the effort to create a master plan that ended up having a $42 million price tag. Funding to pay for the project did not make it out of a General Assembly committee in 2016 and that led efforts to convert the project to a local one instead.
By the fall of 2017, the likelihood of state funding remained low and DCR sought a way to convert it to a regional park. Charlottesville Tomorrow broke that story, too. Albemarle County signed a ground-lease with DCR in 2018.
Many steps have been taken including since then including a rezoning five years ago that returned the land back to parkland as reported in the Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall).
Albemarle County began work clearing the property for phase 1 in March 2023 hoping for an opening that fall, as reported in this newsletter. There were delays and that opening was pushed back to fall of 2024.
Now at last the public will have a chance to officially use the space beginning this Saturday when the park officially opens at noon.
Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment is from the December 12, 2024 edition of the newsletter. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon. There will be new options in 2025 if you’d like to wait. Just please know I’m glad you’re reading!
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