Waterfront

From the street, Rumsey Island's single-family homes and townhouses look like those in most other communities throughout the state. But venturing into the backyards of this southern Harford County hamlet reveals a powerboater's paradise.About half of the 500 homes on the island have piers for mooring their powerboats in the Joppatowne Canal. From the canal, whose manmade fingers run conveniently between the back yards of many homes, homeowners can reach the Gunpowder River and the Chesapeake Bay.The combination of affordable housing and waterfront access, especially in Harford County where a great deal of waterfront is owned by the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground, has been a powerful stimulant for the area's housing market, real estate agents say.Prices range from $100,000 to $180,000 for a quarter-acre to half-acre parcel, including between 30 feet and 75 feet of waterfront and a pier.

The best thing about O'Leary's Seafood Restaurant is how tricky it is to describe. Not so many years back, I'd have called O'Leary's eclectic, which became a byword for both a type of menu and the kind of place that served it. Offering a relaxed version of fine dining, the eclectic restaurant flourished in the 1990s, when serving staffs started wearing black T-shirts and sheets of paper were placed over the tablecloth. Eclectic lives on at O'Leary's, which is housed in a bright blue cottage-like building, a stone's throw from Spa Creek in Annapolis.

In another time, it was a regular gathering place for East Coast yachters, where well-groomed guests from Annapolis and beyond gathered at the end of the day for chilled cocktails, gentle chit-chat and starlit views of the Chesapeake Bay. Today, the Sharps Point estate - which was the home to industrial pump heiress Elizabeth "Zibby" Myers Mitchell and her yachting husband, Carleton Mitchell, in the 1950s and 1960s - is a shadow of the showplace it...

Homebuyers looking for a place to love might find their match in this property off Valentine Creek and Severn River in Anne Arundel County. The comtemporary home on Riverside Drive North has 1,910 square feet of open living space and a view of the water from every window. The four-bedroom home is listed for $837,900. "Relaxing on the deck overlooking Valentine Creek, with the sun setting or rising is truly a wonderfully serene experience," said Stefan Holtz, of the Creig Northrop Team of Long & Foster Real Estate, which listed the property.

People in Bowleys Quarters say Milton Rehbein is easy to like. He's a native of the tight-knit shore community in eastern Baltimore County. And he put in or rebuilt just about everyone's pier or bulkhead. But his plan to turn the old family marina into upscale condominiums has divided a waterfront hamlet still coming to terms with change in the aftermath of a punishing tropical storm. How strong are feelings running in Bowleys Quarters? The local community association has endorsed the proposal - and opponents say they will push to impeach the group's president at what is expected to be a stormy meeting tonight.

We have a potentially wonderful 7-mile waterfront park from Canton to Fort McHenry that should become Baltimore's Central Park. While the Inner Harbor is the center of this, we should be thinking beyond it and taking advantage of greater opportunities. This is more important on many levels than just adding more Inner Harbor attractions. We need to bring major benefits to the whole area for residents and visitors alike. If we want a balance of amenities for both, we need to strongly incorporate the primarily residential waterfront areas beyond the Inner Harbor where neighborhoods meet the water.

IT MAY TAKE years to absorb all the lessons for storm preparation that Isabel recently left behind, but one message is already clear: Those who don't treat the shoreline with respect will likely regret it. Houses built too close to the water were smashed to bits; waterfront property cleared of trees and wetlands was washed away. Litter and other debris dumped along bay and river banks - or directly into the water - were spit back into flooded basements and living rooms. The often tentative, hesitant approach toward land-use restrictions to protect the Chesapeake Bay employed by politicians, bureaucrats and courts was overruled by surging seas.

Snow. Yeechh. Just pray that your picture tube doesn't pick today to blow up.* "Cape May: Victorians by the Sea" (8:30 p.m.-9 p.m., MPT, Channels 22 and 67) -- Summers by the sea in the most picturesque seaside town on the East Coast may do more to remove snow from your life than all the plows in town. I wonder if hotel reservations in Cape May, N.J., will go up after this program airs?* "TV's Funniest Families: The Neighbors" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11) -- A repeat of a show that aired last month?

The man who runs many of Baltimore's marinas, a former captain in the Israeli navy, prefers the sky to the sea. The only boat he owns is a gondola, which he keeps tied up at his marina in Canton. "I love aviation; that's my passion," said Dan Naor, 47, chief operating officer of Baltimore Marine Centers, as he stood next to a cherry-red helicopter on a recent weekday. He flies it - not as often as he'd like - from Pier 7 in Canton, the base of another business he runs, Baltimore Helicopter Services.

The contemporary home overlooking Weems Creek in Annapolis was packed with custom touches, thanks to its former owner, a builder. The two-acre property, at 12 Weems Creek Drive, belonged to a now-retired luxury home builder, who designed and built the four-bedroom, 41/2 -bath house in 1996. The home went on the market in January for $4.9 million and sold in October for $4.4 million. The seller had torn down the original structure, once the summer home of a Baltimore physician and his family.

Editor: When I ran for City Council last year, one of the primary questions I was asked time and time again was "What are you going to do to protect the Havre de Grace Waterfront?" Not long after being selected to serve on the Havre de Grace City Council I learned that the city was negotiating to acquire the Gamatoria property at 701 Concord St. I felt this would be a tremendous opportunity to do just that…"protect the Havre de Grace Waterfront. " More importantly, this real estate was located right next to an historic landmark on the east coast; the Concord Point Lighthouse.

A proposal to reshape City Dock in Annapolis is drawing criticism from traditionalists, who say taller buildings and other ideas to spur economic development could spoil the Colonial-era character and Chesapeake Bay views of the historic waterfront. The dock is among the most prized pieces of real estate in Annapolis. But as the city considers the draft master plan for the area, the question of how to blend its past with the present-day desire for economic vitality is sparking controversy.

A vacant building in a prime location at Annapolis City Dock is about to be sold. An investment group led by Mark Ordan, CEO of Sunrise Senior Living, has signed a deal to buy the former Fawcett Boat Supplies building at 110 Compromise St. The building sits in a key spot in downtown Annapolis and will figure into the city's plans to redevelop the City Dock area. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, and Ordan said it won't be final until the proposal passes a five-month study period "to make sure we have the support and cooperation of the city and the various constituents.

City leaders hope that by this time next year they'll have returned from Annapolis with funds to put toward making the Inner Harbor what its original designers intended it to be - "a playground for Baltimoreans. " "The city has changed so much since the original development of the Inner Harbor," said Laurie Schwartz, executive director of the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore Inc., a nonprofit that manages and advocates for the city's waterfront. It's time to evaluate the Inner Harbor and decide what needs to be done to sustain it as a vibrant part of the city, she said.

Many Marylanders live on the water, but the owner of this contemporary townhouse in Baltimore can walk out on three balconies and be over the water. The five-level home, built in 2006, sold for $1,125,000, about $100,000 less than the asking price. "This home was fun to sell because it showed so well and had excellent views of Baltimore's Inner Harbor from every level," said real estate agent William J. Ganz III, who listed the townhouse at 647 Ponte Villas South. "Combined with the fact that it is located in the private, gated Pier Homes at Harborview community, it was just a matter of time before it sold.

The only residents of the Westport waterfront last week were a gaggle of geese that commandeered a large puddle amid the brush and broken asphalt. The only structure was a battered chain-link fence, capturing wind-blown litter along the perimeter. By now the 43-acre tract, assembled and cleared over several years with millions of dollars and personal resolve, was supposed to house hundreds and bustle with office workers. There should be a towering skyscraper and a stadium. Instead, the development company that was going to make that happen is in bankruptcy and the future of the $1.4 billion Westport Waterfront project, thought of as a potential "Harbor West," is uncertain.

Some Anne Arundel County Council members seem eager to believe the cries of developers and property owners that County Executive Robert R. Neall's new Chesapeake Bay "critical areas" bill is too strict. Already they've hacked a proposed 50-foot buffer around non-tidal wetlands to 25 feet, thus proving they care more about meeting minimum legal requirements than protecting the shoreline.Before they relax any more restrictions, they should remember that such changes may hurt the property owner in the long run. No one's dream of a waterfront home will come true in 10, 25 or 50 years if the bay and its tributaries are dead.

Residents of a Severna Park waterfront community voted overwhelmingly last week against a proposed marina expansion they said would spoil the view.At a meeting Tuesday, residents voted 93-34 against a proposal to expand the marina by 18 slips."

A Valentine's Day auction has been scheduled for developer Patrick Turner's Westport Waterfront site. The auction house A.J. Billig and Co. is advertising that sale of the roughly 43-acre property will take place Feb. 14 on the steps of the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse downtown. The property is eight parcels but will be sold as a single unit, according to the auction materials . A $500,000 deposit will be required at the time of purchase. In November, lender Citigroup Global Markets Realty Corp.

Island View Waterfront Cafe is the kind of place that's made for summer. But that doesn't mean a wintertime visit is a bad idea. On a recent Friday night - cold and rainy - the summertime crowds were nowhere to be found. But the service was personable and efficient, the food comforting, and the space, with its Chesapeake tchotchkes and antique decoys, as charming as a seaside cottage. Located at the end of a long road in Essex, on a tip of land jutting out into the Chesapeake Bay near Hart-Miller Island, Island View Waterfront Cafe was built in 1920, originally as a dance hall and picnic spot for people escaping the city in the summer.