Shady Side boat ramp adds to water access
A handful of car-top boating spots — and now two full-scale boat ramps — have opened in the past four years
When county officials dedicated a new boat ramp in Shady Side last week, it marked what many consider a tide of momentum, with several projects and millions of dollars in the pipeline aimed at improving boating access throughout Anne Arundel.
A handful of car-top boating spots — and now two full-scale boat ramps — have opened in the past four years. And the county budget includes $1.3 million dedicated to boat ramp development annually per year through 2023.
The new $1.4 million Discovery Village ramp at Shady Side includes improved parking at what was once a Johns Hopkins University research center along Parrish Creek.
County Executive Steve Schuh has called the increase of water access in the county a “key priority,” and at the dedication of the Shady Side facility he said the second boat ramp opening in two years “demonstrates undeniable progress in bringing our citizens closer to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.”
The first ramp, which opened in April 2016, is at Fort Smallwood Park in Pasadena, a site that had been in the works for the past two administrations before Schuh took office.
In 2014, with 533 miles of shoreline and the highest number of boats — 33,406 — of any jurisdiction in the state, there were no public county boat ramps; only the state ramp at Sandy Point State Park.
The county has opened five car-top launch sites at Beachwood Park, Solley Cove Park, Homeport Farm Park, Downs Park on Bodkin Creek and a put-in at Discovery Village.
The Downs Park site seems to be the busiest because of its location. Discovery Village is also a popular spot for kayaks and canoes.
The Discovery Village site is under a 30-year lease at $10,000 a month. The lease began in 2016 and will run through 2046, said Rick Anthony, the county’s director of recreation and parks.
Other improvements have been made to the existing parking pad and some park amenities around the small cove at the site.
Another boat ramp at Solley Cove Park is in the design phase.
Anthony said the permitting process will soon follow for the $1 million project.
Schuh’s opponent in November’s election, Democrat Steuart Pittman, acknowledged the “need to expand water access for boating, kayaking, fishing, and swimming, but like any development projects the county undertakes we must engage local residents in the planning process. We can all win when we do it right.”
The issue of community input has arisen in some areas, including on the Mayo peninsula, where extra traffic is a major concern on the one-road-in-oneroad-out community.
“We remain concerned about appropri- See BOATS, page 4
A handful of car-top boating spots — and now two full-scale boat ramps — have opened in the past four years. And the county budget includes $1.3 million dedicated to boat ramp development annually per year through 2023.
The new $1.4 million Discovery Village ramp at Shady Side includes improved parking at what was once a Johns Hopkins University research center along Parrish Creek.
County Executive Steve Schuh has called the increase of water access in the county a “key priority,” and at the dedication of the Shady Side facility he said the second boat ramp opening in two years “demonstrates undeniable progress in bringing our citizens closer to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.”
The first ramp, which opened in April 2016, is at Fort Smallwood Park in Pasadena, a site that had been in the works for the past two administrations before Schuh took office.
In 2014, with 533 miles of shoreline and the highest number of boats — 33,406 — of any jurisdiction in the state, there were no public county boat ramps; only the state ramp at Sandy Point State Park.
The county has opened five car-top launch sites at Beachwood Park, Solley Cove Park, Homeport Farm Park, Downs Park on Bodkin Creek and a put-in at Discovery Village.
The Downs Park site seems to be the busiest because of its location. Discovery Village is also a popular spot for kayaks and canoes.
The Discovery Village site is under a 30-year lease at $10,000 a month. The lease began in 2016 and will run through 2046, said Rick Anthony, the county’s director of recreation and parks.
Other improvements have been made to the existing parking pad and some park amenities around the small cove at the site.
Another boat ramp at Solley Cove Park is in the design phase.
Anthony said the permitting process will soon follow for the $1 million project.
Schuh’s opponent in November’s election, Democrat Steuart Pittman, acknowledged the “need to expand water access for boating, kayaking, fishing, and swimming, but like any development projects the county undertakes we must engage local residents in the planning process. We can all win when we do it right.”
The issue of community input has arisen in some areas, including on the Mayo peninsula, where extra traffic is a major concern on the one-road-in-oneroad-out community.
“We remain concerned about appropri- See BOATS, page 4
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