New for 2011: Chickahominy District encompasses the southwest side of Atlee Station Road, the northeast side of Atlee Station Road starting at Ivy Banks and running southeast toward Atlee HS and Route 301, and both sides of Atlee Road up to Shady Grove Road and down to the Chickahominy River from Route 301 to the Summer Walk neighborhood. It also includes neighborhoods on both sides of Cool Spring Road and along the south side of New Ashcake Road from Route 301 to Sliding Hill Road. It also includes stretches down Studley Road to the Avondale neighborhood, and along Pole Green Road to include Verdi Lane and Bell Creek. It also includes some neighorhoods northwest of Shady Grove Road as it runs southeast of Meadowbridge Road. Chickahominy District includes all or portions of well over 30 Hanover County subdivisions. They range from some of the earliest in the county such as Craney Island Estates, Blue Star Estates and Atlee Manor to some of the most recent including Madison Spring, Atlee Station Village, Cool Well, Rutland, Bell Creek and Chickahominy Oaks.

After the redistricting based on the 2010 U.S. Census, the Chickahominy District includes four precincts and voting locations:

Atlee at Atlee High School, 9414 Atlee Station Road

Cool Spring at a new location, Pearson's Corner Elementary, 8290 New Ashcake Road

Clay at Washington Henry Elementary, 9025 Washington Henry Drive

Shady Grove at a new location, Rural Point Elementary School, 7161 Studley Road

Chickahominy District is one of the fastest growing areas of Hanover, one of the smallest districts by land area and one of the most densely populated. Part of Chickahominy’s appeal is its convenient location and easy commute to major employers in the metropolitan area. But that same convenience factor made the Chickahominy District very vulnerable to the effects of the economic downturn in 2007. When the economy tanked, Chickahominy was hit hard. Many residents worked for major companies like Circuit City, Genworth and Qimonda. They were left without jobs as Circuit City and Qimonda closed down and Genworth made large cuts in employment. Now, for those who may need to sell their homes because of changing financial circumstances or to move elsewhere, it is a tough housing market and a tight credit environment.

In spite of the fact that Chickahominy is a very desirable place to live with excellent schools and quality of life, the district faces several serious issues.

• Chickahominy District is inside the county’s Suburban Services Area and is almost entirely designated in the county comprehensive plan for development. So the growth will continue. But what kind of growth will it be? How much publicly accessible open space will be included? When will trails and green infrastructure actually become a part of the county’s approach to development?
• The next review of the comprehensive plan will need to include designation of at least one “Urban Development Area” (UDA), by state law. Where will this UDA be located? How will that decision get made? What will the impacts be?
• The county generally provides sewer and water service inside the Suburban Services Area. But the oldest subdivisions were built with wells and septic systems, and now some of them are failing. Is it fair to charge homeowners up to $20,000 each to hook up to the county water system so they can stop the flow of raw sewage into their homes? What alternatives exist?
• And as some of the “middle-aged” subdivisions lose popularity in the face of new growth and expanding areas of pavement, Chickahominy District must be proactive in order to avoid the problems of neighborhood decline that face many older suburban areas in the region.

Meeting these challenges requires forward-looking approaches to sustainable, community-oriented growth.

Long time Chickahominy District resident Jim Ellis ran for the Board of Supervisors in 2007 as an independent candidate. Although new to local politics and facing the incumbent Republican Chair of the Board, his campaign garnered 42% of the votes and won the Chickahominy precinct. Chickahominy District residents, as Jim sees it, are hungry for a stronger connection with their county government to help solve problems exacerbated by growth, a tough economy, strains on transportation and sanitation infrastructure, and the county’s reluctance to aggressively adopt smart growth principles and create a better balance of the rights of current residents to enjoy their properties with the rights of developers to build on theirs.

“The thing that surprised me most when I was running for office was the response I got from people when I knocked on their doors to introduce myself and ask for their vote. Most had never met their supervisor before; they had not had anyone running for office knock on their door before. It made a huge impression on them that somebody would knock on their door and would show a desire to try to reconnect people with their own government. They really wanted to feel like they had somebody who was on their side. People  in the Chickahominy District want a relationship with their local government where they feel part of it, not alienated from it.”  Jim Ellis