Anne Arundel County has done little to turn a wooded 28-acre waterfront parcel in Crownsville into the park it promised when it purchased the land eight years ago.
While the property is technically open to the public, there’s nowhere to park, no place to use the bathroom, no easy way to get to the serene Valentine Creek, which feeds the Severn River.
Instead, the park effectively serves as a private playground for three nearby neighborhoods whose residents have created trails through the forest.
Now the county is moving forward with the park, and neighbors are pushing back — hard.
Residents jeered county employees who presented plans for the park at a public meeting, condemned the plan in written comments, persistently emailed county officials and are taking their case to those vying for public office.
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Residents think the county should rethink its plans because opening the park to the public would bring traffic, crime and environmental degradation. Proponents of water access, however, see the park as a necessary access point to the exclusive Severn, and one they believe the county is legally obligated to open.
Valentine Creek has become a flash point in what officials describe as a troubling but familiar trend in Anne Arundel, which features 530 miles of shoreline but few places for the public to access the water. Almost every time the county announces plans to make waterfront properties more accessible, those who live near them revolt — and it can get nasty.
There have even been threats against workers.
In Valentine Creek Park last summer, the county’s Department of Recreation and Parks said someone removed survey markers and tree flagging placed by the county’s engineering consultant and “rudely” engaged crews.
County Councilwoman Lisa Rodvien, whose district encompasses Valentine Creek, experienced similar vitriol in 2023 when the county sought to expand Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis.
“The fear of change and the unknown is so strong,” said the Democrat, who is not running for reelection when her term ends this year. “Always the arguments are there will be crime. And people will be parking here and we don’t know who they are. And the reality is they are people who want to go to the water, like you.”
‘Everyone seemed to be happy’
Crownsville Conservancy President Scott Hymes tried for years to buy what is now Valentine Creek Park to add to his organization’s preserved land.
But Hymes said the deeds were confusing and a home developer beat him to it.
The builder wanted to clear trees in the 100 acres of increasingly rare contiguous forest. Development would possibly eliminate one neighborhood’s only access to the waterfront.
Conservancy volunteers organized the surrounding communities to submit letters of concern to the county.
Eventually, then-County Executive Steve Schuh suggested buying the land with state open-space money. The county proposed creating a new park with parking, water access for boating and fishing, and hiking trails.
The state allocated $1.26 million and the deal went through in 2018.
“After all those years, I was so happy,” Hymes said. “Everyone seemed to be happy.”
The joy was short-lived.
Schuh’s administration envisioned a facility with 40 parking spaces and a boat ramp. That would have required clearing some trees and dredging the shallow, marshy creek.
The plan was met with disdain.
When Steuart Pittman defeated Schuh and assumed the county’s highest office in 2019, he walked the park with neighbors.
“That was not appropriate for a motorboat ramp,” Pittman said in an interview. “But we insisted to the neighbors that this is public land that needs to be available to the public.”
Staff for the Democrat, who has been in office for almost eight years, only recently designed the park after studying its feasibility in 2022.
The meaning of ‘water privilege’
In a packed cafeteria at South Shore Elementary School in October, county staff laid out plans for Valentine Creek.
The new park would have 10 parking spaces behind a gate controlled by a county-issued code. An existing trail would be widened to make it easier to bring a kayak to the water. Fewer trees would be cleared. Other trails would be preserved and a small fishing pier added.
Unhappy neighbors outnumbered water-access advocates in the crowd.
Some said they felt left out of the planning process, despite the county surveying surrounding communities. Others said local roads couldn’t handle additional traffic, even though the county estimated just 20 to 30 park visitors a day. Worries were raised about tree loss and other environmental impacts, and teenagers partying in the park.
Cody Cole, who lives in Arden on the Severn, a 900-home community just to the west, wrote to the county to say the neighborhood would have to hire more security to protect its four private beaches, three boat ramps and six piers. There’s no way “to vet the people” accessing the park, he wrote.
“All of the residents from the surrounding community have paid peak real estate prices and property taxes in order to live in the respective communities, not to mention, the annual fees to maintain the community amenities,” Cole added. “Allowing unfettered public access to the water way redefines the meaning of ‘water privilege’ by allowing anyone to access it.”
Valentine Creek Park separates Arden from Herald Harbor, a neighborhood of about 800 homes. Both have private access to the park. Herald Harbor has a small beach and a boat ramp.
Matt Falzon, president of the Herald Harbor Citizens Association, said in an interview that residents walk their dogs and bike in the park.
“We appreciate that the county invested in it not being developed,” Falzon said. “A park is better than a big development. But I think a lot of people would rather see it be in a big conservancy.”
Paula Hubbard, coordinator of the roughly 1,000-member Chesapeake Paddlers Association, wants to provide more access to the upper Severn River.
She and other paddlers said the county should add more than 10 parking spaces because kayakers often travel in groups.
“The public does not just include the neighbors — the public is all of us,” Hubbard said. “The residents want to maintain it almost as a private, for their use only, recreational area. But it does not belong to their homeowners association. They did not buy it.”
Gregory Pokrywka of the WatersEdge Sea Kayak Club said he’s seen the “not in my backyard,” or NIMBY, principle around water access before in Anne Arundel. When the county opened up Spriggs Farm Park in Arnold, he said, the park’s neighbors were “holding up signs and yelling and screaming.”
“We need more public access,” Pokrywka said. “We have amazing waters, and we don’t have a way to get to them.”
‘Their own little private playground’
Residents along Valentine Creek Drive may have the most at stake because the only public access to the park is their dead-end road.
“As you can see, this is one of the reasons we’re concerned,” said Glenn Pollard of the Valentine Creek Community Association, pointing out children riding scooters and skateboards in the street.
Just outside the park, a “NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME WATCH” sign warns that any “suspicious behavior” will be reported to police. Until recently, another sign read: “NO PARKING ANY TIME RESIDENTS ONLY.”
“We’re not trying to prevent people to access this,” Pollard said. “We’re just trying to prevent the development of the woods.”
He declined to comment on the signs, but county officials said they had no record of a “no parking” sign and that they wouldn’t place such signage on a public street.
Another sign at the park’s trailhead reads “Valentine Creek COMMUNITY WALKING TRAIL.”
The narrow trail drops to the proposed parking area. From there, a more precipitous path winds down about a half-mile to the creek 100 feet below.
Ted Sensenbrenner of the Valentine Creek Community Association questioned how a kayaker could drag a boat up the steep hillside.
He added that he and his neighbors would welcome park visitors, but they don’t want the county to spend a lot of money for something that few may use.
Even some kayakers concede that the distance and slope make water access difficult. But they said the community should embrace that, as it will deter many paddlers.
Residents believe the property’s use already meets state requirements for the Program Open Space funds.
Gregg Bortz, spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said both the land’s existing use and the county’s plans are consistent with program requirements.
Pollard and other neighbors have urged county officials to use nearby Brewer Pond Natural Area for water access. They argue it’s better suited for paddlers and would require less environmental degradation. But people who live nearby are already expressing dismay about making it more available to the public.
Chip Walsh, a longtime water access advocate and member of the county’s stakeholder committee for Valentine Creek, said it appears neighbors want to “keep it as their own little private playground.”
“I’ve seen a lot of NIMBY protest for parks that ultimately get developed, and in the end they’re an amenity to the community,” Walsh said. “I think that’s what will happen in Valentine Creek if the county can resist the political pressure against it.”
While Pittman hasn’t taken a position on the latest park proposal, he remains resolute.
“It makes no sense to spend public dollars to benefit a small number of people and to exclude others,” the county executive said. “If it’s public money, there must be public use. Period.”
With Pittman leaving office soon, Valentine Creek leaders have begun making their pitch to his potential successors.
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