Piney Orchard is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

within the

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

suburb of Odenton,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, United States. ''Piney Orchard'' began as a

Planned Unit Development A planned unit development (PUD) is a type of flexible, non- Euclidean zoning device that redefines the land uses allowed within a stated land area. PUDs consist of unitary site plans that promote the creation of open spaces, mixed-use housing and ...

, and was a project of the Constellation Real Estate Group, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Constellation Energy Group, which itself, is now owned by

Exelon Exelon Corporation is an American public utility headquartered in Chicago, and incorporated in Pennsylvania. Exelon is the largest electric parent company in the United States by revenue and is the largest regulated electric utility in the Uni ...

. 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 Parkway and Riverscape Drive, had been the practice site for the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

team until 2006, when they moved to their newly built practice facility,

Kettler Capitals Iceplex MedStar 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 Ballst ...

in Arlington,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Sub-divisions within Piney Orchard

* Autumn Crest * Brookwood * Burgundy Place * Cedar Ridge - Active Adult Community * Chapel Village * Chestnut Gable * Chestnut Point * The Courts * Emory Woods * Fieldstone Farms Apartments * Francis Station * The Gatherings at Forest Glen - Active Adult Community * The Groves * Harvest Run * Maple Ridge * Nature's Trail * Piney Station * River Colony * River's Edge * River Run * Riverscape Apartments * Settler's View * Station House * Stone Crossing * Streamview * Summer's Run * Summit Chase * The Vineyards * Westcourts * Woodland Walk

External links

Piney Orchard Community Association
Unincorporated communities in Anne Arundel County, Maryland Unincorporated communities in Maryland Exelon Odenton, Maryland {{AnneArundelCountyMD-geo-stub