The Albemarle County Planning Commission will reconsider their unanimous vote against rezoning for the 3,100-unit Biscuit Run project, the largest proposed residential development in county history. The Board of Supervisors voted April 4 to send Biscuit Run back to the Planning Commission, at the request of Biscuit Run developers.
 Marcia Joseph, chair of the County Planning Commission and a candidate for the Board of Supervisors, voted against the Biscuit Run development along with all other commissioners. Now developers want Joseph and company to take another look before it goes to the Board. |
At a six hour meeting March 27, Steven Blaine, the attorney representing the developers, opted to press for an up-or-down vote from the Planning Commission, which serves only as an advisory committee to the Board of Supervisors. Hunter Craig, a leading developer in the project, later thought better of that decision. Craig called the Planning Commission’s chair, Marcia Joseph, saying he would like Biscuit Run to return to the Planning Commission.
“He just expressed the fact that he would like these issues to be resolved by the Planning Commission before it moves on to the Board,” Joseph says. Craig did not return calls by press time.
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The county will now have more time to review the proffers, which should be revised by the time the Planning Commission re-examines the proposal at another public hearing. That is tentatively scheduled for May 22.
“The Commission’s laid out what they’d like to see,” says Wayne Cilimberg. “So I think the applicant is very aware and the applicant will hopefully be addressing those things and resubmitting.”
The biggest remaining issues as discussed at the March 27 meeting are the phasing of the project, the water/sewer capacity, and the proffers—how much the developers will pay to offset the burdens Biscuit Run will place on schools and roads.
For more information: A podcast of the April 4th meeting of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors meeting and its discussion of the Biscuit Run rezoning is available at Charlottesville Tomorrow.
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