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Updated: 7:26 PM Dec 31, 2009
Longtime Biscuit Run Residents Hoped Land Would Be Developed
A large chunk of Albemarle County land will no longer be used to build thousands of homes, instead it will be used as a state park. The Breeden family has lived at Biscuit Run for many years. They say the land was bought with the intention of turning it into a community near Charlottesville, and they wish it had stayed that way.
Posted: 5:43 PM Dec 31, 2009Reporter: Liz Palka Email Address: liz.palka@newsplex.com |
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7 Comments 
December 31, 2009
A large chunk of Albemarle County land will no longer be used to build thousands of homes, instead it will be used as a state park.
Biscuit Run is located along Route 20 South and Old Lynchburg Road just minutes from downtown Charlottesville. Biscuit Run was supposed to be home to more than 3,000 homes. It was a project county officials were pushing for. Now family members of the original owners still live at Biscuit Run. They say the land was bought with the intention of turning it into a community near Charlottesville.
The land is home to 1200 acres of Hardwood Forest and a stream. The Breeden family have lived on this land for 35 years. The Breedens are developers and they bought Biscuit Run in the 1970s.
"The reason that I'm here is that somebody had the idea first that the land would be developed in this direction and understood distance," said Elizabeth Breeden, Biscuit Run resident.
The Breedens sold Biscuit Run to a local developer, Hunter Craig, in 2005, but the bad economy left Craig no choice but to sell the land to the state.
From the time of the purchase, the Breedens wanted the land to be developed, and they feel the decision to turn Biscuit Run into a state park may not have been what's best for Albemarle County.
"Although it is a beautiful piece of land as a state park where it is, it makes it the smartest piece of land that could be developed for making sure the town is accessible without using your car," says Breeden.
Breeden says it will be beneficial for people to have a state park within the county. But she also thinks the state pushed Biscuit Run to become a park instead of thinking about what was best many years down the line.
"Sometimes people who insist that any land is good land...haven't taken the next step to see if we all agree that more people will move here and we can plan intelligently," says Breeden.
She says it will take cooperation on a state and local level next time an opportunity to develop comes along.
Latest Comments
I am amazed and excited that we will get a nice large park nearby! Most of C'ville's parks are just too small, I find. I like to hike and bike, experience nature. Parks should be havens for wildlife. Sometimes I am depressed at the disregard for nature evidenced in the preponderance of tossed trash at Darden Towe and other parks. My favorite is Chris Greene Lake. Until Biscuit Run!
What the local officials fail to recognize is that the people who are pushing for more and more sprawl and traffic congestion are in the small minority. Land is not infinite in supply and once it is paved over and developed it is gone for good. Hunter Craig more than likely couldn't get the numbers $$$$ he wanted so he passed on it. Another state park beats more junk sprawl and congestion any day of the week. We have gorgeous natural beauty around here that needs to be protected. Dollar hungry real estate developers and those who'd sell their soul for a buck do not care at all how any of this stuff impacts the quality of life for each of us who call this area home. If you want big city living with big city ammenities then pack it up and move it out to a big city where you'll feel more at home and the lifestyle will be more to your liking. Stop trying to push sprawl on a majority of area residents who don't desire to have it!
Looks like Hunter Craig and his group made a bad investment, and we the state of virginia had to bail them out.
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