And while the county has envisioned such a community on the peninsula for many years, environmental groups and state and local government officials have raised concerns about its potential to damage a fragile ecosystem located on fragile soil prone to erosion. The centerpiece of Legend's proposal is a town center similar to Belmont Bay, the urban-style village under construction by Caruthers Properties at the mouth of the Occoquan River. The Cherry Hill town center would be larger, featuring 1,169 homes on 131 acres, an 18-hole golf course and a new commuter rail station for Virginia Railway Express, as well as the 3.8 million square feet of office, light industrial and retail space. Another 2,031 homes would be built on the remaining 1,370 acres Legend owns on either side of Cherry Hill Road as it descends the bluff to the waterfront. Those homes, on lot sizes ranging from a quarter-acre to an acre, would be in traditional suburban developments like Southbridge's current project near Route 1.
Legend wants to rezone the property and get a special use permit for the town center.
The company has also filed a second, smaller rezoning application to build 370 single-family homes and town houses on 222 acres next to its existing development. A public hearing before the Prince William Planning Commission is scheduled for Oct. 18. The company scuttled the plan in 1993, choosing a site in Southern California instead. Erosion-prone soil and slopes of 15 percent or steeper are pervasive on the Cherry Hill peninsula. Two nesting sites for bald eagles have been found on the property.