In virtually every discussion of area growth—whether it be talk of new houses, new roads or new retail space—Biscuit Run, an expansive planned development on 1,300 acres of the southern side of Charlottesville, must be invoked. So a November 14 County Planning Commission work session devoted to new designs for Biscuit Run predictably drew a crowd.
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When Elizabeth and the late David Breeden sold their property last year to developer Hunter Craig and his partners (officially Forest Lodge LLC), initial designs for up to 5,000 new housing units were on the table. After several public hearings, the developers ditched that initial design, hired the award-winning New Urbanism firm, Torti Gallas, and have produced a scaled-down version of 2,500-3,5000 new units more closely aligned to the “neighborhood model.” (How could it not be? When the County decided to move toward the “neighborhood model” for future growth, it hired Torti Gallas as consultants.)
The master planners, referring to the development repeatedly as a “village,” said they took a step back to get a better sense of the land, discussed connector roads and “village” retail space. Speaking of the parking arrangement for the retail space, designer Beth Hesler said the neighborhood model is about “creating places where humans are comfortable—it’s not about vast seas of parking or extra wide streets where cars are going fast.”
The new design earned some positive comments from both County Planning Commissioners and some area residents, but such positive comments usually preceded “but we still have concerns…” Almost a dozen members of the public, both city and county residents, took a turn sharing such concerns about Biscuit Run (no member of the public spoke in support the development), with a heavy focus on overtaxed roads.
At the same time, the City Planning Commission was also discussing Biscuit Run traffic. “The quality of life could be crushed for citizens living on [the four roads affected],” said Commissioner Michael Farruggio, counting Avon Street Extended, Fifth Street Extended, Route 20 and Old Lynchburg Road.
Next up for Biscuit Run is a December 19 work session devoted solely to transportation. The City Planning Commission intends to join the County for that hearing.
