State Wrapping Up Deep Creek Buydown Project

State Wrapping Up Deep Creek Buydown Project

Jan. 24, 2008

As the eighth anniversary of the state's purchase of Deep Creek Lake approaches, the Maryland Department of General Services (DGS) announced Monday it will end the Deep Creek Lake Buydown Project at the end of the fiscal year.

Since 2000, more than 1,600 parcels of land have been purchased by contiguous property owners, according to DGS.

Buydown parcels are offered only to the adjacent property owner at a cost of 39 cents a square foot, which is the per-square-foot price paid by the state when it purchased the lake in February 2000.

The buydown parcels were sold subject to a conservation easement, which restricts the use of the property in order to preserve the natural beauty and ecological integrity of the waterfront.

Funds recovered from the sale will be used to replenish the $9.8 million purchase appropriation.

The state has retained a buffer strip of not less than 25 feet along the lake's edge so that the public may walk and fish around the lake.

While 2,000 individual buydown parcels have been offered, 1,617 parcels have been sold and 1,330 have settled, according to DGS.

In order to complete the project, no additional contracts will be offered or accepted after Jan. 31.

"Property owners who have contracted to purchase buydown parcels should rest assured that all outstanding contracts will be honored and settlements will continue until all have been finalized," said a DGS spokesperson.

Owners of lakefront property who believe that they should have been offered a buydown parcel and were not, or those who chose not to purchase and have reconsidered their decision, are asked to contact the DGS project manager, Catherine Mateer, at 410-767-5764, or by e-mail at catherine.mateer@dgs.-state.md.us.

Negotiations for the purchase of the lake began in 1998 after GPU Inc. announced plans to sell the lake and surrounding land, along with its hydroelectric generating station and dam. Under the agreement, the lake (approximately 4,400 acres) has been added to the state forest and park system.

Deep Creek Lake was created in 1925 by the Youghiogheny Electric Company, which acquired the underlying property and constructed the dam and hydroelectric power station. It is Maryland's largest freshwater lake ecosystem, with more than 70 miles of shoreline. The motels, restaurants, and vacation homes at Deep Creek Lake account for over half of Garrett County's assessable tax base.