Chesapeake Ranch Estates, Maryland

Last updated
Chesapeake Ranch Estates, Maryland
USA Maryland location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Chesapeake Ranch Estates
Coordinates: 38°20′46″N76°25′04″W / 38.34611°N 76.41778°W / 38.34611; -76.41778 Coordinates: 38°20′46″N76°25′04″W / 38.34611°N 76.41778°W / 38.34611; -76.41778
CountryUnited States
State Maryland
County Calvert
Area
[1]
  Total4.51 sq mi (11.69 km2)
  Land4.32 sq mi (11.19 km2)
  Water0.19 sq mi (0.50 km2)
Elevation
108 ft (33 m)
Population
 (2020)
  Total10,308
  Density2,386.66/sq mi (921.49/km2)
Time zone UTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
  Summer (DST) UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP code
20657
Area code(s) 410, 443, and 667
GNIS feature ID1676560 [2]

The Chesapeake Ranch Estates (CRE), also known locally as the Ranch Club, is located in Lusby, Maryland, United States, in southern Calvert County. CRE was founded in 1958 and is governed by a homeowners' association, which is officially called the "Property Owner's Association of the Chesapeake Ranch Estates" (POACRE). Today, CRE is composed of over 4,000 homes. [3] The community is counted as a census-designated place for population statistics, with a residential population of 10,519 as of the 2010 census. [4] At the 2000 census, the area was part of the Chesapeake Ranch Estates-Drum Point CDP.

Contents

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.
2020 10,308
U.S. Decennial Census [5]

Amenities

The CRE is close to the attractions of Solomons Island as well as in proximity to Naval Air Station Patuxent River. There are several public schools within a ten-mile radius of the community. The community maintains two private Chesapeake Bay beaches: Driftwood Beach and Seahorse Beach, and one manmade lake: Lake Lariat. CRE has a small airfield, a horseshoes field, a duck pond, and a camp ground. CRE is also home to part of the world-famous Calvert Cliffs. The cliffs are made of sand and clay with clearly visible layers. Over 600 species of fossils have been identified from all of Calvert Cliffs. [6] The cliffs are easily accessible from Seahorse Beach but are off-limits due to the danger of collapse.

CRE is an unincorporated community protected 24/7 by security guards. Today, access to the beaches and other similar amenities is closed to non-members, however access to the roads around the community are open to all.

Current issues

Currently POACRE was approved by request to become a special tax district in the county, that would raise an estimated $5,750,000 needed to repair the roads. [7]

Lake Lariat has a history of pollution ranging from runoff, to algae blooms, and also mercury. [8] An ongoing effort has been made to clean the lake, and freshwater clams have been placed in the lake to help alleviate the problems. The lake also has an ongoing fish consumption advisory since 2002 by the Maryland Department of the Environment due to confirmed high levels of mercury in fish tissue in the lake, five times past the legally allowable, as all fish in Maryland have this advisory. [9]

Recently, a growing movement has occurred to restructure POACRE or even make it a public subdivision as a solution to the growing numbers of problems that the original homeowners' association was not designed to handle when originally conceived. The campgrounds have been opened up to allow camping from the public. [10]

There have been some discussions concerning the governing documents of the POACRE. This matter was the subject of litigation in the case of Hanson vs. Calvert County, won by Calvert County and its co-defendant, Property Owners of Chesapeake Ranch Estates. It was alleged in this case that in 1989 the founders of POACRE illegally co-opted the powers of the developer (Chesapeake Ranch Club, Inc.) as declarant of the covenants.

Related Research Articles

Calvert County, Maryland County in Maryland, United States

Calvert County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2010 census, the population was 88,737. Its county seat is Prince Frederick. The county's name is derived from the family name of the Barons of Baltimore, the proprietors of the English Colony of Maryland Calvert County is included in the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. It occupies the Calvert Peninsula, which is bordered on the east by Chesapeake Bay and on the west by the Patuxent River. Calvert County is part of the Southern Maryland region. The county has one of the highest median household incomes in the United States.

Arnold, Maryland Census-designated place in Maryland, United States

Arnold, a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States, located just outside of the state's capital, Annapolis. It is located 18.78 miles south of Baltimore, and 29.97 miles east of Washington DC. The population was 23,106 at the 2010 census. Neighborhoods straddle College Parkway and Maryland Route 2. Arnold is located on the scenic Broadneck Peninsula. The ZIP code is 21012. It is bordered by Severna Park to the northwest, Cape Saint Claire to the southeast, Annapolis to the southwest, and Lake Shore to the northeast.

Chesapeake Ranch Estates-Drum Point, Maryland Former Census-designated place in Maryland, United States

Chesapeake Ranch Estates-Drum Point was a census-designated place in Calvert County, Maryland, for the 2000 United States Census, when it had a population of 11,503. For the 2010 census the area was split into the CDPs of Chesapeake Ranch Estates and Drum Point. The communities are only a few minutes from the popular weekend resort town Solomons as well as the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Calvert Cliffs State Park and fossil grounds, and the Dominion Cove Point liquefied natural gas terminal.

Lusby, Maryland Census-designated place in Maryland, United States

Lusby is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Calvert County, Maryland, United States. The population of the CDP was 1,835 at the 2010 census. Residents of the Chesapeake Ranch Estates and Drum Point communities also use the Lusby ZIP code designation.

Owings, Maryland Census-designated place in Maryland, United States

Owings is a town center and census-designated place (CDP) in northern Calvert County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,149 at the 2010 census, up from 1,325 in 2000.

Prince Frederick, Maryland Census-designated place in Maryland, United States

Prince Frederick is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Calvert County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Prince Frederick was 3,226, up from 2,538 in 2010. It is the county seat of Calvert County.

Lake Barcroft, Virginia Census-designated place in Virginia, United States

Lake Barcroft is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 9,558 at the 2010 census. It is also the name of the privately owned lake—part of the Cameron Run Watershed—around which this population is located. The lake is named for Dr. John W. Barcroft, who owned and operated a mill on Holmes Run during the mid-19th century.

Sudden Valley, Washington Census-designated place in Washington, United States

Sudden Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) just outside of Bellingham in Whatcom County, Washington.

Southern Maryland

Southern Maryland is a geographical, cultural and historic region in Maryland composed of the state's southernmost counties on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. According to the state of Maryland, the region includes all of Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's counties and the southern portions of Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties.

Calvert Cliffs State Park

Calvert Cliffs State Park is a public recreation area in Lusby, Calvert County, Maryland, that protects a portion of cliffs that extend for 24 miles along the eastern flank of the Calvert Peninsula on the west side of Chesapeake Bay from Chesapeake Beach southward to Drum Point. The state park is known for the abundance of mainly Middle Miocene sub-epoch fossils that can be found on the shoreline.

Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant Nuclear power plant in Calvert County, Maryland, US

The Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant (CCNPP) is a nuclear power plant located on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay near Lusby, Calvert County, Maryland in the Mid-Atlantic United States. It is the only nuclear power plant in the state of Maryland.

Russett, Maryland Unincorporated community in Maryland, United States

Russett is an unincorporated planned community of 613 acres (2.48 km2) within the Maryland City CDP in far-western Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States, near the city of Laurel. It is situated in a park-like setting complemented by 12 miles (19 km) of walking trails and a 70-acre (280,000 m2) lake nature preserve.

Patuxent High School Public secondary school in Lusby, Maryland, United States

Patuxent High School is a comprehensive, four-year public high school in Lusby, Calvert County, Maryland, United States. The school draws from the communities of Cove Point, the Chesapeake Ranch Estates, Drum Point and Solomons. Patuxent has 69 certified teachers, four full time counselors and a full time registrar who serve 1073 total students and 257 seniors.

Maryland Route 765

Maryland Route 765 is a collection of state highways in the U.S. state of Maryland. These 26 highways are service roads constructed or old alignments maintained to provide access to private property or county highways whose access was compromised by the realignment of MD 2 and MD 4 in Calvert County. There are six signed mainline segments of MD 765 comprising the old alignment of the concurrency of MD 2 and MD 4 through Solomons, Lusby, St. Leonard, and Port Republic, and the county seat of Prince Frederick in southern Calvert County. There are also 20 unsigned sections of MD 765 south of Prince Frederick and along MD 2 between its junction with MD 4 in Sunderland and Owings in northern Calvert County.

Flag Ponds Nature Park

Flag Ponds Nature Park is a nature preserve located in Lusby, Maryland along the Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County, Maryland. It is operated by the Calvert County Department of Natural Resources. The park includes nature trails and a beach for swimmers. Fossil shark's teeth eroded from the Calvert Cliffs formation may be collected on the beach. The area included in the park was once a center for pound net fishing from the early 1900s through 1955. One fishing shanty remained until October 2012 when it burned down. It has since been rebuilt.

Calvert County Public Schools is a public school district serving all of Calvert County, Maryland. The district is governed by a six-person Board of Education, five of which are elected by the public in non-partisan elections, and a student elected by the Calvert Association of Student Councils. The school district currently has 4 high schools, 6 middle schools, and 13 elementary schools.

Drum Point is a census-designated place (CDP) in southern Calvert County, Maryland, United States, at the confluence of the Patuxent River with Chesapeake Bay. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 2,731. Prior to 2010 it was part of the Chesapeake Ranch Estates-Drum Point CDP.

Maryland Route 497

Maryland Route 497 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Cove Point Road, the state highway runs 2.68 miles (4.31 km) from MD 2 and MD 4 in Lusby east to the community of Cove Point. MD 497 was constructed in the early 1930s.

Holly Lake Ranch is an unincorporated, gated, golf course community managed by a homeowner's association and located in Texas. There is an allied Silver Leaf Resorts community of the same name at the location as well.

Lake Arrowhead, Missouri Census-designated place in Missouri, United States

Lake Arrowhead is a private community and census-designated place (CDP) in Clinton County, Missouri, United States. It is in the southeastern part of the county, surrounding a lake of the same name. It is 4 miles (6 km) south of Lathrop, the county seat, 3 miles (5 km) north of Holt, and 33 miles (53 km) northeast of Kansas City. It is served by the Lathrop post office.

References

  1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  2. "Chesapeake Ranch Estates". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  3. "Property Owners Association Chesapeake Ranch Estates | HOA in Lusby, MD".
  4. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Chesapeake CDP, Louisiana". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  5. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  6. "Calvert Cliffs State Park". Archived from the original on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
  7. "03-27-07 Previous Agenda". Archived from the original on 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
  8. "Lake Lariat placed under fishing limits". www.somdnews.com. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  9. "TMDL of Mercury for Lake Lariat in Calvert County, Maryland". Archived from the original on 2008-09-29. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
  10. http://www.chesapeakeranchestates.org/uploads/Other_governance_Pros___Cons.pdf%5B%5D