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Towns of Garrett County- Deer Park, Maryland

Located about 5 miles south of Deep Creek Lake, Deer Park, Maryland is known for a historic resort hotel that once stood there. A small train town, Deer Park was a booming industry in the late 1800’s. The B & O Railroad dropped off many prestigious guests at the Deer Park Hotel for a fun, relaxing weekend in Mountain Maryland. In fact, President Grover Cleveland honeymooned here in 1886. The Deer Park Hotel is long gone, however, The Deer Park Inn Bed and Breakfast still offers an elegant French cuisine.

With a population just over 400 residents, Deer Park is once again ready for growth. With new sewer and water lines, the town is planning new construction projects and restoring historic buildings. For more information, please visit http://www.visitdeepcreek.com/pages/SouthernGarrettCounty.

FUN FACT: You know Deer Park Natural Spring Water? Yes, this is the same Deer Park! The popular bottled water comes from springs right here in Deer Park, Maryland.

dpkhot

Memorial Day Weekend: A Holiday for ALL Garrett County Visitors!

Memorial Day Weekend kicked off Deep Creek Lake’s summer tourism season! However, it was not just humans enjoying the lake.

Take a look at some of the black bear sightings from the weekend!

bear

Click here to see a family’s new swimming buddy.

Welcome Back, Maryland Welcome Centers!

ANNAPOLIS, Md. –(AP) -Gov. Larry Hogan is announcing the reopening of tourist welcome centers in far western Maryland and the Eastern Shore that the previous administration closed six years ago for budget reasons.

Hogan said in a statement Thursday that the Youghiogheny (yahk-ih-GAY’-nee) Overlook center in Garrett County and the Bay Country center in Queen Anne’s County will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays.

For more, click here.

PRICE REDUCTION!

Backs to Garrett State Forest! 15.43 acres with a ~30×60 pole building in coveted Youghiogheny Mountain Resort. Community has over 2,400 acres and over 50 miles of ATV, snowmobile and hiking trails. Private access, mostly wooded but not too remote – 4G cell service at property. Electric close by. Plenty of storage for all of your outdoor vehicles, campers, etc. The perfect getaway!

Birchwood Drive Price Reduction Social Media

 

NEW LISTING!

Great price! 2 side by side building lots in Mountain Lake Park. Public sewer and water available. Backs up to stream. Also available to purchase individually for $17,900 each, call for details. Partially cleared lots.

C Street Social Media

>MURPHY'S LAW: What ever happened to family picnics?

>By BARBARA MURPHY
News Tribune
Posted Jul 07, 2011 @ 01:32 PM

Westernport, Md. —
As we were sitting around the patio table on the Fourth of July my son Brian asked, “Whatever happened to picnics? Nobody goes on picnics anymore and they were so much fun!”

It’s true. I can’t remember the last time we had a family picnic. Poor little Marissa doesn’t even know what picnics are.

I think perhaps one reason why we went on so many picnics was because in those days we didn’t have air conditioning and it was a whole lot cooler in the mountains. I can remember my mother’s words: “Let’s pack a lunch and get out of this heat!”

We were never in a hurry to get back home either and would stay there until dark when it began to cool off back home. The change in temperature between our house in Luke and Deep Creek Lake in Garrett County was a good fifteen to twenty degrees. Sometimes when it would be in the nineties at our house, we would arrive there only to discover it was too cold to go swimming!

More here.

If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!
Visit the ‘I Love Deep Creek & Garrett County group’ on Facebook! News, events, photos, real estate, community, info, more! 1,750+ members & growing!

Drafts address land-use in Garrett County

‘Clustering’ now included as an option

Megan Miller
Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — A second round of draft updates to Garrett County land ordinances makes more concessions for development and places fewer restrictions on land use, after public protests caused officials to rethink stricter regulations in a previous draft.

The long process of updating the planning and land development ordinances entered a new phase last week with the release of revised drafts for public review. The documents — drafts of the subdivision ordinance, sensitive areas ordinance and Deep Creek watershed zoning ordinance — contain a second round of changes, following the first changes and public comment period that took place in the fall.

The first versions spurred some public uproar over a provision that would affect the development of rural resource and agricultural resource land. That provision would have required at least 66 percent of subdivision land parcels in those areas to be set aside as “resource parcels,” or open land.

The provisions do not affect the entire county, but only areas specifically designated “agricultural resource” and “rural resource.” However, those two areas do span large portions of the county.

The resource parcel stipulation was intended to protect areas of forest, natural resources and farmland from development, according to its language. It would have prevented sprawling development by requiring the majority of a parcel to be set aside, and clustering development onto lots of no minimum size on one-third of the parcel.

“It’s trying to preserve a portion of the land to keep it as productive farmland or productive timberland,” said John Nelson, director of planning and land development. “That’s the real purpose of the clustering. What we’re saying is, create smaller lots but save a portion of the land. Maybe it would belong to a homeowners association, and they could lease it as a farm.”

But many farmers and other landowners spoke out against the measure, arguing that it directly or indirectly placed too many restrictions on how the land could be used.

Paul Miller, president of the Garrett County Farm Bureau board of directors, said his organization objected because they saw the clustering requirement as an infringement on private property rights, affecting the way landowners could sell their land. It could also have driven down property values by restricting potential land uses, he said.

Due to those and other public objections, the clustering requirement has been removed in the latest draft, Nelson said. Instead, the document includes clustering as an option, and contains incentives to attempt to encourage that type of development, he explained.

Miller said the latest draft of the ordinance has addressed his concerns.

“If it holds as it is, we’re satisfied,” he said.

A provision in the first draft of the updated Deep Creek watershed zoning ordinance also caused a stir because it would have put strict requirements on development on crests and ridge lines visible from the surface or shoreline of the lake. The proposed changes also would have required trees to be planted between structures and the lake to screen them from view.

“About four years ago we had held public meetings about people’s views on changes and development in the county,” Nelson said. “The development that is occurring on the ridge lines around the lake was the No. 1 response. People were worried about the development taking away from the natural scenic beauty of those ridges.”

But the strict requirements didn’t sit well with people specifically interested in those properties for the development potential and unobstructed lake views. In the latest draft, the provision has been changed to require only that trees be planted around the sides and rear of new structures to help them blend into the surrounding vegetation, Nelson explained. No trees are required for the front, or lake-facing side.

The county planning commission has been working on the ordinance updates since spring 2009, mainly because state law requires the ordinances to be adjusted to remain consistent with changes to the county comprehensive plan adopted in 2008, according to Nelson.

A public hearing on the latest versions of the ordinances will be held in coming weeks, though nothing has been scheduled yet.

Updated versions of the ordinance drafts and maps are available online on the county Web site at. www.garrettcounty.org

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350