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Article VII, Section 5 of the Constitution of Virginia requires county election districts to be compact and contiguous and to provide proportional representation. The local board of supervisors is required to redraw district boundaries every ten years to reflect changes in population that have occurred within the various districts. This process is subject to review and approval by the United States Department of Justice in accordance with the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Brookland District is highlighted yellow on this map. The Brookland District encompasses about 8.5% of the
County's total square mileage but contains more than 20% of its population. More precisely, the district is 28.52 square miles and currently has 58,000 residents.
This compares with a countywide square mileage of 244.06 and population of nearly 300,000. It is located in the northwestern area of the County. Its southern boundary is the Richmond City line and its northern boundary is the Chickahominy
River.
Henrico County is fortunate to have a superior public school system with neighborhood schools. Nine elementary schools are sited in the Brookland District - Dumbarton, Echo Lake, Glen Allen, Greenwood, Holladay, Johnson, Lakeside, Longan and Trevvette. The district is also home to three middle schools (Hungary Creek, Moody and Mount Vernon); and Hermitage High School. Although nearly all children residing in Brookland attend an elementary school in their district, some of our middle school students attend Short Pump Middle School in the Three Chopt District. Also, some of our high school students attend Henrico High School in the Fairfield District, Tucker High School in the Three Chopt District and Freeman High School in the Tuckahoe
District.
The Brookland District contains a number of public facilities in addition to schools. The Henrico County Government Center, including administrative offices and courts, are sited in Brookland. The district also has three fire stations (#10 - Horsepen Road, #12 - West End Drive and #15 - Mill Road); a public skate facility (Laurel); three parks (Crump, Dunncroft/Castle Point, and R.F. & P.); three libraries (Dumbarton, Glen
Allen, and Municipal); and several recreation areas. Two historical buildings owned by the County (Meadow Farm and Walkerton) are located in Brookland along the historic Mountain Road corridor as is the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen. The service station at Courtney and Mountain Roads has been restored and the cupola, the only remaining remnant of Forrest Lodge, has been restored and now stands at the corner of Mountain Road and old Washington
Highway.
A local post office has served the Glen Allen community for well over a century. Several years ago, the United States Postal Service announced that it was moving the Glen Allen Post Office out of old Glen Allen to accommodate commercial and residential growth in Innsbrook. Although I was not opposed to a new Postal Service branch for that area of the County, I felt the existing post office on Mountain Road was an integral part of Glen Allen and should remain in operation as a community facility. I was especially concerned that the federal government had made a decision without involving local citizens or their elected representatives. As the result of determined and responsive efforts, the Postal Service retreated from its earlier position and allowed the old Glen Allen Post Office to remain at the same location.
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