OUR FIGHT

In August 2020, a portion of land on Dorothy Drive previously own by our grandmother’s brother Tommie Holland was purchased by a small developer who later lost the property to the bank. In August 2020, the bank sold the property as a foreclosure to an  "Aggressive Land Possessor" (ALP) who purchased roughly 70 acres of mostly non-buildable wetland along Dorothy Drive. 

From August 2020 to the present, a series of harassment and aggressive land possession actions began with the family enduring an ongoing battle of responding to non-merit spite peace orders filed by the ALP to being blocked out of their land by metal gates.  The ALP continues to stake claim to the owning the right of way which is completely false and also staking claim to land that is not his.  He has gone so far as to add language to his deed to support his land stealing.   

The ALP has also used the peace order filing process as a method to harass family members and had a family member arrested based on his false claims of property ownership at a BGE gate. 

Now remember when we told you Grandma was a woman who handled her business. Well after the land sale to BGE in 1969, Grandma went back to BGE in 1982 and had BGE reaffirmed and established her a deed of easement between her, grandpa and BGE for her heirs, descendants, and their heirs.  She hired an attorney to establish the provisions and ensure her heirs and assigns had an easement to farm otherwise use and to cross the corridor of the powerline from Trouble Lane to Dorothy Drive as part of the land sale in 1969.  Louise did not leave the table just with the land sale and a deed of sale she made sure her children for generations to come would have the provisions of an easement through the powerline.  

On March 7, 1983, BGE granted a Deed or Easement to Hall and Morsell for what is known today as Trouble Lane as it crosses BGE property (previously Louise and Thomas Morsell property) from Pushaw station Road southwest to the Morsell property.  Of course, the CCSO did not realize this on August 9, 2022, when they unlawfully arrested Louise’s grandson but would later find out when the State’s Attorney Office was provided a copy of the deeded easement. If our grandmother was living, it can only be assumed she would have called BGE and gave them a piece of her mind and the CCSO the remainder. 

Harassment and intimidation

In 2020, the ALP began a series of intimidation, land harassment, verbal assault, and intimidation. ALP has installed to two metal gates along Dorothy Drive to prevent and obstruct anyone who he deemed as a trespasser from using the road to aggressively possess the land and road and the pier along Fishing Creek. The ALP harassment has also included previously targeting the previous homeowners who eventually sold their home and property back to a Holland family member in February 2021. The ALP ongoing claim to owning the right of way and road have contributed to countless emergency calls to the County and State Police Barracks in Prince Frederick.  

Fishing Pier, Big Development, and Iron Gates 

When family has visited the fishing pier along Fishing Creek on Dorothy Drive they have been approached by the ALP and Calvert County police officials who have repeatedly been on the road for unknown reasons the police and DNR are constantly on the road when no report has been made by those living along Dorothy Drive and in 2022 the family determined that many of these instances wherein the police and DNR were appearing were do to personal calls made by the ALP through his personal relationship with them.  Officers of the CCSO have even approached family on the pier inquiring of their reason on the pier and stating to them they are trespassing based on the ALP antics to harass family members.

The ALP has routinely bragged about his connection to the Donovan families who are well known in connected to the late Gerard Donovan, owner of the Rod and Reel Casino Resort in Chesapeake Beach, MD. Although it is unfounded and unknown some type of waterfront development was planned in 2021 in the Chesapeake Beach marina area. The only known developer at that time for waterfront properties in Calvert was the late Gerald Donovan. When the family contacted the North Beach Township regarding who was heading the project, they would not identify who the developer was.  Ironically in February 2021, the home at the far end of Dorothy Drive was sold and a Holland family member purchased the property. In March, a moratorium was placed on the marina development. Fishing Creek runs from Chesapeake Beach directly across and along to the back end of Dorothy Drive. It is unclear whether the home sale in February had anything to do with the moratorium placed on the marina water development project the following month.

ALP has publicly and explicitly bragged to neighbors and family members that the owner of Rod n Reel was going to lend him $100K to start his recreational and hunting business along Dorothy Drive. The ALP has routinely contacted Holland family members in an attempt to get them to sell him land or hunting easements.  A company by the name of Americomm located in Pennsylvania sent family members letters in 2020 requesting they sign an easement for utility and installation of internet services. When the family contacted Americomm regarding the letters, they stated they were hired by an internet service provider Comcast to contact the family.  

Now the question our family had was why a would multibillion dollar company be interested in black homeowner’s having internet connection along a private dirt road in Calvert County? The answer, MONEY. Money for development of a waterfront property project called Chesapeake North, South, East, and West being spearheaded by the Chesapeake Beach Township and Council. And where was part of this development to occur? Along Fishing Creek from Chesapeake which runs to the back of Dorothy Drive in Sunderland MD. 

Sources: 

Town Council Considers a Temporary Pause on Major Development | Chesapeake Beach MD

Chesapeake Beach council OKs nine-month moratorium on site plans | Local News | somdnews.com

And all projects planned through the Chesapeake Town Council still received the final approval through the County Planning and Zoning Office in Prince Frederick.

When the family members would not sign, the Calvert County Board of Commissioners then sent letters requesting the family member’s reconsider.  These letters were suspicious as why would the County request and have such a great interest in internet connection for four homes along a dirt road when there are homes along the major travel Rt 4 that still do not have high speed internet connection.  The family believes these letters were just a disguise for the family members to sign over an easement to the County for the use in making the private road a public road and thereby no longer under the control of the citizens who live along the road. The County Administrative advised the family in 2021 that his office was intending to file a relief in court for creation of a subdivision for Dorothy Drive as a way to address the issue. This will ultimately benefit the County and the ALP and become a devastating blow to the black landowners with property along Dorothy Drive if approved. 

As far back as 2020, the ALP sent instant messages to family members stating the County was going to obtain for him some type of subdivision right. However, the only issue was that ALP needed an easement from the black landowners and when he knew he could not successfully obtain this easement by asking and intimidation he then pursued to install gates to block those along the road. He embarked on a campaign of harassment and racially motivated intimidation against the Holland Family and friends when they would not sign. And mysteriously, the family begin receiving letters from Americomm, LLC.

The ALP stated to the family that his connections consisted of judges, politicians, police officers, relatives, and personal acquaintances and those within the Calvert County Planning and Zoning. This is something we find of interest regarding the gate remaining closed at the farthest end of Dorothy Drive while another was required to remain open.  A family member was told they would have to find another access point to their property which contradicts many precedent land cases regarding established right of ways and an owner’s right to access their land. A person’s egress and ingress cannot be blocked especially by a gate. Yet a judge in the Circuit Court rendered this decision in 2021 to allow one gate to remain close.

In 2020, ALP bragged to Holland family members that the Rod n Reel owner, Gerard Donovan (currently deceased) was planning to lend him $100K to start his business. Donovan, who was a long-standing donor to Steny Hoyer, and it was Hoyer who approved the MD Watershed Project for the dredging of Fishing Creek. This proposed project proposes to remove the sludge from the Chesapeake Beach floor inlet and allow commercial boats to enter Fishing Creek for fishing, duck hunting, recreational gaming, and hunting. The proposed dredging will impact Fishing Creek and cause flooding downstream. The downstream area of impact would be along Dorothy Drive which has flooded Pushaw Station Road in previous years. The Army Corps of Engineers was sent an email and the family of Joseph Holland requested an impact assessment be conducted as their property and the lands along Dorothy Drive and Trouble Lane would adversely be impacted once those flood waters erode downstream from the northern end of creek once its dredged. The Army Corps of Engineers never responded after two contacts requesting information. 

If these lands are rezoned as waterfront, the property taxes will increase and ultimately result in the loss of land as the owners will no longer be able to afford their property taxes. This systematic rezoning will undoubtedly impact blacks at a disproportionate rate in the County. This is a systematic plan that is being carried out by Special Interest Business Groups (SBIG), the Calvert Commissioner’s Office, and the CC Office of Planning and Zoning collectively. 

In 2021, the Calvert County Commissioners Office sent letters requesting the families to reconsider and sign over an easement under the auspices of Comcast installing cable network through a telecommunication service provider company Americomm, LLC located in Pennsylvania. The company was trying to obtain signatures as far back as 2020 from various family members for full use through an easement without compensation and requesting homeowners residing on Dorothy Drive and Trouble Lane. Since the homeowners have repeatedly stated to the county and ALP they will not sign and approve an easement both parties have used the Calvert County Commissioners Office to promote his efforts who sent all of the black homeowner’s letters asking them to approve an easement. And when that did not work the County Planning and Zoning Office begin inspecting the properties of these landowners to see if they could find inspection issues to cite the homeowners with and fine them for.

Holland family members with property along Dorothy Drive and Trouble Lane were sent citation letters stating they would be fined $500.00 if they did not comply with the citations.  The family later determined the ALP was constantly contacting the Planning and Zoning Office accusing them of running a salvage business which initiated the citation letters. The family members advised planning and zoning they WOULD NOT be paying the citation as they were bias and generated based on racial harassment actions by the ALP.

In October 2022, the ALP begin harassing the family and has placed illegal survey stakes by Wilkerson Survey along the boundary of our mother’s land along Dorothy Drive deeded to him.

He along with his associates have tried to install a temporary structure to block passage on our property and attempting to erect a permanent fence. He now continues to trespass and violate our peace and quiet enjoyment as he along with his associates continues to trespass.  We are awaiting our survey completion however he has interrupted this process on two occasions.

In December 2022, our family filed a complaint for quiet tittle within Circuit Court for injunctive relief, and claim trespassing, harassment, violation of civil rights, and peace. The ALP has stolen our deer cameras and property within the last several months while the State Attorney Office refuses to prosecute.

A hearing date in Circuit Court is forthcoming. Join us in our fight and support in any way you can!