A rush-hour backup on Midlothian Turnpike (Photo by Jay Paul)
Many features brought Torian Erker back to Midlothian from Northern Virginia to raise her young family in the place where she was raised.
“It was the cost of living, it was that we could get a decent-sized home, it was because of what you pay for day care here,” says Erker, a compliance officer with Edelman Financial Engines in Henrico. “It’s the sense of community, the affordability and the good schools.”
While Erker could walk to bars and use public transportation in Northern Virginia, the cost of housing for her growing family was out of reach. There was another crucial element missing that she has found in Midlothian as well: “I missed those grocery store conversations,” Erker recalls. “People are friendlier here. There’s not this charm in Northern Virginia.”
Kris Watkins, whose kindergartener and third grader go to J.B. Watkins Elementary School, also feels Midlothian is a terrific place to raise children. “We can walk to grocery stores, and it’s not as crowded as Short Pump,” says Watkins, who lives behind Midlothian Middle School off Midlothian Turnpike. “It’s convenient to a lot of places.”
Walking is often not an option for residents of this sprawling, unincorporated area in northwest Chesterfield County that includes three ZIP codes. According to the website Walk Score, Midlothian’s score is a dismal 1 out of 100, because almost all errands require a car. This is an area known for numerous large subdivisions, including The Grove, Hallsley, Smoketree, Sycamore Village and Walton Lake. To the south, the Brandermill development on Hull Street Road and the area up to Midlothian Turnpike are included as well, so it’s easy to forget that there’s a namesake village whose epicenter might be considered Sycamore Square Shopping Center, located on Midlothian Turnpike (U.S. Highway 60) at Crowder Drive. But even though this may be the commercial epicenter, it does not have the feel of a village hub. It is inconvenient for pedestrians to access from the south, with cars traveling 45 mph along Midlothian Turnpike and few sidewalks and crosswalks traversing its four lanes.
The Sycamore Square Shopping Center’s website describes the area as a step back in time to a neighborhood of specialty restaurants, shops and businesses with the atmosphere of a village square. Made up of locally owned stores including The Little Book Shop, It’s Chic Again, Quilters’ Corner, S.E.E. Boutique, Dances With Wool, Crab Louie’s Seafood Tavern, and Paint ‘N Play RVA, the shopping center does have an intimate, nostalgic feel that’s a world away from the other strip malls that line Midlothian Turnpike, full of big box retailers intermingled with small businesses and ethnic restaurants. But there’s little of the foot traffic you find in pedestrian-focused communities such as Carytown.
On a recent afternoon, the only pedestrian traffic at Sycamore Square was customers who had driven to the shopping center and walked from their cars to the stores.
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Tony Tunes plays once a month at The Little Bookshop, located in the Sycamore Square Shopping Center. (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Sheep graze in a field off of Robious Road. (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Midlothian Middle School (Photo by Jay Paul)
Curbing Car Culture
Chesterfield County’s 100-plus-page Midlothian Community Special Area Plan aims to control growth by providing a framework for land use and development while addressing that overwhelming reliance on motor vehicles to keep the community functioning. Organizers including current Midlothian-area Chesterfield County Supervisor Leslie Haley say it is a road map for the future of Midlothian, guiding growth, development and infrastructure decisions. It also aims to increase connectivity, with a grid of streets that includes sidewalks and bike paths along with a reimagined Midlothian Turnpike that envisions a more pedestrian-friendly, small-town feel for the community.
“The goal of the plan is to have the Village of Midlothian feel like a place, a town, not suburban sprawl,” says Amy Satterfield in a video on the plan produced by Chesterfield County.
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Amy Satterfield (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Jessie Boyland, Art Works gallery director and a Midlothian Residents Coalition organizer (Photo by Jay Paul)
A former small-business owner, Satterfield is a past president of the nonprofit Village of Midlothian Volunteer Coalition, and since the late 1980s, she has worked with the Midlothian Junior Women’s Club and the Chesterfield County Planning Commission to improve walkability while also developing community-building programs including the Midlothian Village Day Parade (the 38th annual event was held Oct. 19), as well as infrastructure that gives the area personality, such as the Midlothian Middle School’s Pocket Park. Her group also was part of a partnership to develop the Watkins Annex Athletic Fields and Park.
The special area plan establishes guidelines, not ordinances, to ensure that development is compatible with the scale and character of Midlothian while creating a “vibrant and positive community identity through high quality design of buildings and public spaces.” It encourages a variety of retail and small-scale investment and gives guidelines for a variety of new housing types beyond single-family homes that “support a range of lifestyles.”
Satterfield says the plan is a vision that’s decades in the making while also forward-looking — walkable streets, throughways, bike paths and connected communities that extend to the north and south of Midlothian Turnpike.
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Sycamore Village (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Historical markers along Midlothian Turnpike (Photo by Jay Paul)
Putting on the Brakes?
Despite these details, some residents, including Erker and Watkins, object to the changes, which they say would inconvenience them, snarl traffic and send speeding cars through their neighborhoods. The Midlothian Residents Coalition formed to object to the plan, drafting a petition against proposed rezoning that would allow high-density development, which the coalition contends could lead to increased traffic congestion and school overcrowding. Its Facebook page asks: “Does your vision for Midlothian include 2,000+ new housing units? Do we want our kids’ classrooms in trailers? Can our roads sustain the extra traffic?”
“We want to make sure the kids don’t suffer because of politics, and everyone can agree on the numbers,” says Jessie Boyland, Art Works gallery director and a Midlothian Residents Coalition organizer. “We want data and facts.”
In October, Jesse Smith, Chesterfield deputy county administrator, met with Boyland and others to listen to concerns. “We anticipate there will be changes,” Smith says. “There’s a lot of concern about infrastructure, roads and schools. It’s important to realize what’s out now is a visioning document.”
A concept drawing of Midlothian Turnpike from development guidelines in Chesterfield County’s Midlothian Community Special Area Plan. (Image courtesy Midlothian Community Special Area Plan)
A community meeting was held on Nov. 7, and the plan was set for discussion by the Chesterfield County Planning Commission on Nov. 19. Smith expects the plan to go before the County Board of Supervisors in December.
“It’s the county’s responsibility to hear the people,” says Satterfield, who was disappointed by what she calls the lack of civility regarding recent community feedback, while emphasizing the plan should not be blamed for overcrowding issues with schools. “The plan is a vision document, not a zoning document.”
The Midlothian Community Special Area Plan became a contentious issue in the contest between incumbent Leslie Haley and Javaid Siddiqi, a Chesterfield County School Board member, for the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors’ Midlothian District seat. Haley won the Nov. 5 election with 55% of the vote.
Siddiqi had contended that the plan disregards the impact of development, and that the process was insufficiently inclusive.
Haley says she “tried to make sure the community has a better understanding of how planning happens.”
All About Midlothian
Boundaries
The Village of Midlothian lies along U.S. Highway 60 around State Highway 288 and Woolridge Road. Midlothian encompasses ZIP codes 23112, 23113 and 23114, an area that stretches roughly along Highway 288 from the James River to Hull Street Road at Brandermill.
Origins
This site of suburban sprawl was once home to coal mining operations, beginning in the early 1700s and continuing into the late 19th century. You can learn more about that history while taking a hike or enjoying a concert at Mid-Lothian Mines Park, a Chesterfield County park on 44 acres off Woolridge Road.
Housing
Within the 23113 and 23114 ZIP codes, listings for an 800-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bath townhome condo appeared on Realtor.com at $119,000. A 1,486-square-foot house with three bedrooms and two baths was listed for $229,000. A high-end, 4,000-square-foot home with six bedrooms and four and a half baths was listed at $859,900.
Schools
Midlothian’s public schools in those three ZIP code zones — J. B. Watkins Elementary, Midlothian Middle and Midlothian High School — all earned high marks from reviewers on Greatschools.org. At all schools, test scores are far above the state average, suggesting that most students at the schools are performing at or above grade level. Strong schools and high-achieving students are a draw and help drive the boom in population, according to Erker, Watkins and other people interviewed for this article, but this has also created school overcrowding and led to the development of the new Old Hundred Elementary School.
Dining
All the expected chains and plenty of unexpected pleasures can be found here. The Grill at Waterford near Brandermill is a neighborhood gathering spot with from-scratch entrees ranging from meatloaf to Tuscany chicken. Classic comfort food is a staple at Brickhouse Diner on Midlothian Turnpike, and you can get a hot breakfast on the cheap at the Midlothian Apothecary.
