Turf Valley 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 ...

Ellicott City, Maryland Ellicott City is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its ...

, United States. The resort is situated in a wedge between Route 70 and U.S. Route 40, with the David Force Natural Resource Area along the northern border.

Development and Turf Valley Country Club

Construction contractor Samuel M. Pistorio (1902-1998) purchased 1000 acres of farmland west of Ellicott City. He introduced the $1 million Turf Valley Country Club in 1958. The 1500 person club featured two 18-hole golf courses designed by Ault and Jaminson. The Clubhouse opened in December 1959.

Zoning amendments

Turf Valley proposed falling under the "New Town" zoning proposed in 1965 or the creation of the

Rouse Company The Rouse Company was a publicly traded shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company. It was founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939. Beginnings: Moss-Rouse Com ...

development Columbia. Amendments were placed in the New Town Zoning increasing the minimum required acreage owned by a project from 750 to 2500 acres, effectively removing Turf Valley from immediate competition to the project.

Residential development and cemetery controversy

The Resort later was purchased by Nicholas B. Mangione of Mangione Enterprises. In 1979, Mangione in combination with the Gudelsky family company Percontee, planner William P. Brendle and attorney Bernard F. Goldberg petitioned to rezone the 646 acre project from three-acre lots to half-acre lots claiming 50 acres would be open space. The property was redeveloped for housing units alongside the golf course with sewer service approved in 1989. In 1985, the Catholic Archdioceses sold Donald R. Reuwer Jr. the graveyard of St. Mary's Church for $10,000. In 1991, H. Allen Becker developed Turf Valley Overlook housing development on a 3.5 acre St. Mary's Church parcel that contained

Doughoregan Manor Doughoregan Manor () is a plantation house and estate located on Manor Lane west of Ellicott City, Maryland, United States. Established in the early 18th century as the seat of Maryland's prominent Carroll family, it was home to Founding Fathe ...

worker graves. Protesters requested Charles I. Ecker purchase the land for open space, but the development and clearing were allowed to proceed.

References

Unincorporated communities in Howard County, Maryland Unincorporated communities in Maryland {{HowardCountyMD-geo-stub