— Dotted with historic clapboard houses that have been converted into eateries, T-shirt shops and ice cream parlors, the main thoroughfare running through the tiny Talbot County town of St. Michaels clogs with tourists in the summer, as visitors flock to the waterfront.

The 1,000 or so year-round residents welcome the tourists, who marvel at reminders of the town's maritime heritage. The quaint town, founded in the 1600s, also has attracted VIP residents such as former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

But some local residents are less welcoming of a proposed housing development called Miles Point Property, with its planned 240 homes on 72 acres, which could increase the town's population by nearly 40 percent.

The project has divided the town for years, and the legal battle surrounding it could become an election issue similar to the fight over slots in Anne Arundel County.

Some residents say the rapid growth would threaten St. Michaels' ambience.

"We want a reasonable-sized development that takes into account the environment and traffic without creating a huge quagmire," said Laurence O. Pratt, a native of Connecticut who moved to town about three years ago. "It's the density. That's the problem. It's so many houses."

The developer, Miles Point Property, LLC, says it has been reasonable. What began about 12 years ago as a plan for a 420 homes on the land has been reduced at the behest of the town commission, said T.J. Pecorak, a managing partner.

"If this process is considered on the facts, instead of on rumor and hysteria, it would have been finished a long time ago," said Pecorak.

The contentious debate over how this land would be developed — which has raged for 30 years, since the proposed site was annexed to the town — illustrates the classic push and pull between residents hoping to preserve their way of life and developers seeking to capitalize on open land in a desirable location.

Some developers on the Eastern Shore have been more successful in winning public support. In Snow Hill, along the Pocomoke River, a developer charmed residents with plans for a cluster of 2,000 homes — which would double the town's population — a project that many hoped would help the struggling downtown district. The town approved the plans by a broad margin, but even that popular project faced complaints from environmentalists concerned about the loss of open space.

The St. Michaels town commissioners, a five-person elected body, recently approved the final piece of zoning legislation allowing the Miles Point construction, where home prices are expected to range from an average of $500,000 to upward of $1 million. The homes would offer views of the Miles River, and sit on a plot of land where soy bean plants now grow along Route 33, a two-lane road that serves as the main artery of the town.

Looking to the recent Court of Appeals decision that allowed a referendum on zoning for slots in Anne Arundel County, opponents have filed suit against the town, asking a county judge to order the commissioners to place a referendum on the ballot. Now commissioners are looking at buying the land through charitable donations and conserving it, but that prospect appears unlikely.

James A. Valliant — whose family has lived in St. Michael's for generations — and three other residents who oppose the development sponsored a referendum petition in May. They gathered 242 signatures to take the approved zoning ordinance to the voters to decide.

But the town clerk said in a letter that state law precludes a referendum on such ordinances. Chip MacLeod, the town attorney, said the commissioners have worked diligently over the years to be fair to all sides, but the zoning legislation in question — which calls for the re-creation of a historic village with homes on smaller lots separated by narrow streets — cannot be put to referendum

"Think about the unfairness of that," said MacLeod. "You own a piece of property, and you get the proper and legal approvals, but wait, you have to wait until we do this vote. You just can't have zoning by plebiscite."

The state's highest court ruled last month that a zoning ordinance allowing Baltimore developer David Cordish to build a 4,750-unit slots parlor at Arundel Mills mall can go to referendum. The developer sued to stop the vote, and had won a lower court victory when a judge ruled that the zoning was part of a spending authorization and couldn't be challenged. Though the high court overturned that ruling, it hasn't explained its reasoning.

The four residents' attorney, Thomas T. Alspach, who has also represented other residents in various legal fights over Miles Point in the past decade, said although the court has not issued its written opinion in the Arundel slots case, the precedent likely bodes well for a referendum in St. Michaels.

The slots decision "kind of leaves both sides in a limbo as to specific guidance from the Court of Appeals," said Alspach. "Having said that, we believe in that decision, the court of appeals has come down pretty firmly that when there's a right to referendum, you've got to go forward with one."

Meanwhile, MacLeod said, the cases are too different for a direct comparison.

Pecorak says his company has worked closely with the town over the years, developing a storm water management plan and other environmental safeguards, but the opponents have fought him at every turn. An almost constantly changing cast of town commissioners, who typically serve two-year terms, has also prolonged the process, he said.

"People in the public forum are entirely too loose with information that is not entirely accurate. Now there's 200 people in town running around perpetuating information that is inaccurate," he said.

But Valliant, whose grandfather was a waterman, said he's frustrated that the town commissioners have seemingly ignored the opposition to the project, which he says will do irreparable harm to Miles River.

"This development is going to add to the woes of this river," said Valliant. "I've lived here a long time. When you realize you're being stomped on, man, it hits you in your gut that something's wrong."

The chairman of the board of town commissioners, Michael Brady, who voted for the zoning, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Pat Howell, who has owned St. Michaels Candy and Gifts on Talbot Street since 1991, said she's passionate about protecting the town from large-scale development, which she surmises would bring rumbling construction trucks down the main street of town for years.

"We love St. Michaels; it's my home," said Howell. "We feel very strongly about keeping the town as healthy as it can be, protecting the integrity of the town. Extreme building would be a major detriment. I feel it fervently in my heart. We'll lose this — what we have."

nicole.fuller@baltsun.com