Albemarle County, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Abbey Stumpf, Director of Communications for Albemarle County, joined Morning News to discuss key county initiatives, including the ongoing budget process and land use planning. “We’ve had four community budget town halls, four out of seven, so this week is spring break, and we don’t have a lot of budget stuff scheduled, but we’re kicking back off again next week,” Stumpf said. The final adoption of the budget is scheduled for May 7th.  

Another major topic of discussion was the county’s AC44 comprehensive plan, which focuses on development area land use and community design guidelines. “Our county is split up 95% designated as rural area, and 5% designated as development area,” Stumpf noted. She explained the county’s goal of making the development area livable with multimodal transportation, high-density housing, and accessible infrastructure. 

Transportation projects were also highlighted, including a new pedestrian bridge over 29 near Stonefield. “You’ll start seeing further work, and then this pedestrian bridge will be able to provide people easier access to get from one side to the other, which is really critical in that area,” Stumpf said. The bridge aims to improve safety for pedestrians crossing the busy highway, where traffic moves at speeds exceeding 55 mph. 

Listen to the full conversation here: