Do you realize that despite having 550 miles of shoreline, Anne Arundel County, MD, has only three public boat ramps, and only one in South County?
The future of public water access at Discovery Village is uncertain.
That ramp, and a cartop launch, is located at Discovery Village, a seven-acre site located at the tip of a peninsula on Parish Creek. Public access there could end a year from now if action isn’t taken by the county.
The boat ramp is part of a lease agreement between the private property owner and Anne Arundel County. The lease expires at the end of July 2027. After that, it is unclear what will happen because the property is currently for sale.
Those who have been following closely know that the public access initiative on this site goes back 10 years, if not more, and includes a previous lease and a sudden boat ramp closure with almost no notice last July, after which the county entered into a temporary arrangement with nearby Parish Creek Marina for public use of its boat ramp for the remainder of 2025. Further complicating the situation, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources awarded Anne Arundel County a State Waterway Improvement Fund grant in fiscal year 2018 worth $533,833 for the public boating facilities at Discovery Village. The county installed/upgraded the boat ramp, replaced bulkheads, and dredged the channel among other improvements.
The Discovery Village site, it should be noted, includes two buildings (not part of the current county lease). In the past, the site was used not only by individual boaters, but also by environmental organizations such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, West-Rhode Riverkeeper, and Coastal Conservation Association (CCA).
Currently, more than a dozen organizations are urging Anne Arundel County to purchase Discovery Village for public use. If you are concerned about maintaining public access at this site, reach out to your elected officials and those running for office. If you would like to learn more about the future of Discovery Village and how to get involved, contact Mike Lofton of the Public Water Access Committee at [email protected]. Find ramp details and cartop boat launch details at aacounty.org/locations/discovery-village.