Piney Orchard, is a community

Community

The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...

 within Odenton

Odenton, Maryland

Odenton is a census-designated place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 20,534 at the 2000 census. The town is named after former Governor of Maryland, Oden Bowie. It is bordered by Gambrills to the east, Severn to the north, Fort Meade to the west, and Crofton to...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. Piney Orchard was begun as a Planned Unit Development

Planned Unit Development

A planned unit development , is both a type of building development as well as a regulatory process. A PUD is a designed grouping of varied and compatible land uses, such as housing, recreation, commercial centers, and industrial parks, all within one contained development or...

, and was a project of the Constellation Real Estate Group, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Constellation Energy Group.

Construction of the community began in 1991, although groundbreaking for what was to become the Nature Preserve started in 1987, when Constellation Real Estate Group began the effort to restore wetlands in an area which had been mined for sand and gravel in the 1940s and 1950s. Several mitigation projects, the term used for this restoration, followed in five phases to replace wetlands filled in by the development of the community, and included the building and enhancement of five large ponds and the planting of shrubs, trees, and grasses native to the area. The Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees such efforts, monitored the progress of the mitigation sites until 1995, when it was determined the efforts had been successful. In 1996, the Piney Orchard Nature Preserve was officially opened.

More than 3500 housing units have been built in Piney Orchard and approximately 8500 residents live there. Constellation turned over the day-to-day supervision of Piney Orchard to the homeowners of the community in 2005. The Piney Orchard Community Association, or "POCA" as it is known, arranges several community-wide social activities and collects annual fees from all homeowners to maintain the aesthetic qualities of the community.

Piney Orchard Ice Arena, located at the corner of Piney Orchard Boulevard and Riverscape Drive, had been the practice site for the Washington Capitals

Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...

 ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 team until 2006, when they moved to their newly-built practice facility, Kettler Capitals Iceplex

Kettler Capitals Iceplex

Kettler Capitals Iceplex is the practice arena of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League. The highest ice rink above street-level in the United States, it is located on the eighth floor atop the parking garage adjoining the Ballston Common Mall in the Ballston neighborhood of...

 in Arlington, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

.

Sub-divisions within Piney Orchard

• Autumn Crest
• Brookwood
• Cedar Ridge - Active Adult Community
  Retirement community
  A retirement community, or active adult community, is a very broad, generic term that covers many varieties of housing for retirees and seniors - especially designed or geared for people who no longer work, or restricted to those over a certain age . It differs from a retirement home which is a...
  
  
• Chapel Village
• Chestnut Gables
• Chestnut Point
• The Courts
• Emory Woods
• Fieldstone Farms Apartments
• Francis Station
• The Gatherings at Forest Glen - Active Adult Community
  Retirement community
  A retirement community, or active adult community, is a very broad, generic term that covers many varieties of housing for retirees and seniors - especially designed or geared for people who no longer work, or restricted to those over a certain age . It differs from a retirement home which is a...
  
  
• The Groves
• Harvest Run
• Maple Ridge
• Nature's Trail
• Piney Station
• River Colony
• River's Edge
• River Run
• Riverscape Apartments
• Settler's View
• Stone Crossing
• Streamview
• Summer's Run
• Summit Chase
• The Vineyards
• Westcourts
• Woodland Walk

External links

• Piney Orchard Community Association