Piney Orchard

Piney Orchard, a 2,000-acre planned community in western Anne Arundel County, completed its most successful year since its opening in May 1991 by selling 612 homes last year.The record sales accounted for 39.7 percent of all home sales in that area of Anne Arundel County and had the most sales of any community in the county, according to Meyers Housing Data Reports, a Washington firm that tracks new home construction.Some of the top single-family detached sellers last year in Piney Orchard were Ryan Homes' Station House, which had 36 sales in 1998, and Patriot Homes, which sold 14 homes.

When developer Jay Winer orchestrated a $1.3 million land deal in November in an attempt to get a library branch and community college campus built in Odenton, residents applauded a man who has repeatedly brought county money and projects into their declining town.That Winer's motives appear as much financial as charitable matters little to residents who have long felt cheated in a county teeming with projects and development in every corner but theirs.Winer's real estate firm got an $81,000 broker's commission when the county bought land for the library and campus.

A $300,000 grant from the Mass Transit Administration to help improve the appearance and safety of the Odenton MARC train station was announced yesterday by County Executive John G. Gary at a ribbon-cutting for a widened Piney Orchard Parkway.The grant will be combined with $178,000 from the county to install sidewalks, street lights and landscaping along Odenton and Morgan roads. It is one of a series of public projects in Odenton intended to encourage private investment around the Maryland Rail Commuter station and in the commercial core of the long-planned Odenton Town Center.

An article about transportation improvements in Odenton in yesterday's edition of The Sun in Anne Arundel incorrectly identified the state agency that awarded the county a grant for some of the work.The Mass Transit Administration gave the county $300,000 to make improvements around the Odenton Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC) station.The Sun regrets the error.With the opening of a newly widened and landscaped Piney Orchard Parkway last week, 30-year-old plans for a town center in Odenton finally became tangible.

Adam Klinger held his index finger to his lips as a warning."Sssshh," said the 4-year-old. "We're looking for squirrels."In his right hand, he clutched a bag of Hershey's Kisses, convinced that his furry prey would like them better than the nuts his mother said they liked."

An article about transportation improvements in Odenton in yesterday's edition of The Sun in Anne Arundel incorrectly identified the state agency that awarded the county a grant for some of the work.The Mass Transit Administration gave the county $300,000 to make improvements around the Odenton Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC) station.The Sun regrets the error.With the opening of a newly widened and landscaped Piney Orchard Parkway last week, 30-year-old plans for a town center in Odenton finally became tangible.

Two developers announced plans yesterday for two large developments with supermarkets in the Odenton area.Both developments are expected to open this year.A Columbia developer broke ground yesterday for a 52,000-square-foot shopping center intended to serve the more than 1,800 families living in the planned community of Piney Orchard.Constellation Real Estate expects to build the center, to be called called Piney Orchard Marketplace, on Streamvalley Drive off Route 170 near Piney Orchard Lake.

Group honors Gary for environmental effortsCounty Executive John G. Gary has received the Severn River Association's Green Heron Award for his environmental efforts. The association recognized his administration for restoring miles of stream banks and for supporting laws to help rebuild vegetative buffers and habitats.Completion of parkway in Odenton to be markedThe Odenton Town Plan Oversight Committee and County Executive John G. Gary will celebrate the completion of Piney Orchard Parkway, a key transportation link in the development of the 1,600-acre Odenton Town Center Growth Management Area, at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Academy Junction Plaza on Piney Orchard Parkway between Route 175 and Odenton Road.

BUILD A ROAD, and they will come. Anne Arundel's planners hope this will turn out to be true for the Odenton Town Center now that the widening of Piney Orchard Parkway has been completed. The red carpet is out. The county is just waiting for a developer to show up.Virtually all the major infrastructure for the proposed town center, from roads to storm-water systems, has been completed.Odenton -- the formerly sleepy village nicknamed "Boomtown" when it mostly served the needs of soldiers at nearby Fort Meade for liquor, cheap food and tattoos -- is on the verge of becoming one of Anne Arundel's prime growth areas.

Although construction of Piney Orchard Elementary School won't start for about a year, parents have begun to lobby the school board to keep their children in the Arundel High School feeder system even though the school is crowded.About 40 residents of the west county community showed up unexpectedly at Wednesday's school board meeting to tell the eight members that they do not want their children to attend Meade Senior High School after the elementary school is built."Geographically, Arundel is closer," said Matt Finley, chairman of the community's education committee.

Farmers' markets * The Riva Road Farmers' Market is open 7 a.m. to noon Saturdays through Dec. 19 at the corner of Riva Road and Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis. It also is open from 7 a.m. to noon Tuesdays until Oct. 27. Events include a Harvest Festival in October and a Holiday/Christmas Festival in early December. Information: 410-349-0317. * The indoor Westfield Annapolis Farmers' Market is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 25 on the first level of the Nordstrom parking garage at the mall.

Breakfast meeting John Belcher, chairman and CEO of ARINC, will be the featured speaker at the BWI Business Partnership's Signature Breakfast, 7:45 a.m. Thursday at the Holiday Inn Baltimore-BWI Airport, 890 Elkridge Landing Road in Linthicum. Members can attend at no cost or $30, depending on membership level; cost for nonmembers is $50. Call 410-859-1000 for more information. Farmers' markets * The Riva Road Farmers' Market is open 7 a.m. to noon Saturdays through Dec. 19 at the corner of Riva Road and Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis.

Breakfast meeting John Belcher, chairman and CEO of ARINC, will be the featured speaker at the BWI Business Partnership's Signature Breakfast being held at 7:45 a.m. Sept. 24 at the Holiday Inn Baltimore-BWI Airport, 890 Elkridge Landing Road in Linthicum. Members can attend at no cost or $30, depending on membership level; cost for non-members is $50. Call 410-859-1000 for more information. Farmers' markets * The Riva Road Farmers' Market is open 7 a.m. to noon Saturdays through Dec. 19 at the corner of Riva Road and Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis.

Appraisers' courses The American Society of Appraisers will offer courses at the Loews Annapolis Hotel, 126 West St., Thursday through Sept. 13. Course topics include business valuation, business valuation case study, and machinery and technical specialties valuation. Call 410-263-7777 for reservations. For more information, call 800-272-8258 or go to appraisers.org. Farmers' markets * The Riva Road Farmers' Market is open 7 a.m. to noon Saturdays through Dec. 19 at the corner of Riva Road and Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis.

Farmers' markets * The Riva Road Farmers' Market is open 7 a.m. to noon Saturdays through Dec. 19 at the corner of Riva Road and Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis. It also is open from 7 a.m. to noon Tuesdays until Oct. 27. Events include a Harvest Festival in October and a Holiday/Christmas Festival in early December. Information: 410-349-0317. * The indoor Westfield Annapolis Farmers' Market is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 25 on the first level of the Nordstrom parking garage at the mall.

Appraisers' courses The American Society of Appraisers will offer courses at the Loews Annapolis Hotel, 126 West St., Sept. 10-13. Course topics include business valuation, business valuation case study, and machinery and technical specialties valuation. Call 410-263-7777 for reservations. For more information, call 800-272-8258 or go to appraisers.org. Farmers' markets * The Riva Road Farmers' Market is open 7 a.m. to noon Saturdays through Dec. 19 at the corner of Riva Road and Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis.

Title company opens Church Circle Title & Escrow has opened at 23 West St. in Annapolis, offering residential and commercial real estate settlements, along with contract and deed preparation. Information: 410-269-6488. Appraisers' courses The American Society of Appraisers will offer courses at the Loews Annapolis Hotel, 126 West St., Sept. 10-13. Course topics include business valuation, business valuation case study, and machinery and technical specialties valuation. Call 410-263-7777 for reservations.

Title company opens Church Circle Title & Escrow has opened at 23 West St. in Annapolis, offering residential and commercial real estate settlements, along with contract and deed preparation. Information: 410-269-6488. Appraisers' courses The American Society of Appraisers will offer courses at the Loews Annapolis Hotel, 126 West St., Sept. 10-13. Course topics include business valuation, business valuation case study, and machinery and technical specialties valuation. Call 410-263-7777 for reservations.

Appraisers' courses The American Society of Appraisers will offer courses at the Loews Annapolis Hotel, 126 West St., Sept. 10-13. Course topics include business valuation, business valuation case study, and machinery and technical specialties valuation. Call 410-263-7777 for reservations. For more information, call 800-272-8258 or go to appraisers.org. Open house The Pasadena Business Association's Leads Group will sponsor an open house from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Four Points by Sheraton BWI, 1100 Old Elkridge Landing Road in Linthicum.

A second teenager has admitted to having a role in the firebombing of a Piney Orchard townhouse, a crime that was intended as retaliation for the May 30 homicide of a Crofton youth. In an Anne Arundel County Juvenile Court hearing last week, the boy, 15, made the equivalent of a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit arson. Like the other back-seat passenger who admitted to participating, he agreed to testify against any of the others. He is scheduled to be sentenced later this month. He was released with electronic monitoring to relatives who do not live in the community, according to Kimberly DiPietro, assistant state's attorney.