Unconvinced that a local nonprofit can come up with enough money to buy his island on the Magothy River, the owner has resurrected plans to build a house on it.

David L. Clickner Sr., who bought Dobbins Island in 2004, last week presented preliminary information at a required public meeting on how he'd put in a septic system and road. He didn't provide details on the house, but in 2005, Clickner submitted plans to build a home in the range of more than 4,500 square feet.

Clickner said that he put his plans on hold for more than a year, since spring 2006, to give the Magothy River Association time to raise money to buy the island. That "truce" expired last June.

"We are not considering selling to the Magothy River Association," Clickner said, adding that association president Paul Spadaro "has no money and no one on board."

Spadaro acknowledged he has not raised any money, but he is not giving up the fight to preserve the island, long a stop for local boaters. He says he hopes to persuade the state to buy the island and add it to the John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, he said, because Dobbins Island looks just as it did when the explorer visited it on his journey up the bay 400 years ago.

"I've been working very hard to come up with the solution," he said. "I think we're right there. We've got the ball up to the 2-yard line."

Del. Steve Schuh, a Republican who lives on nearby Gibson Island, said the Anne Arundel County delegation met Feb. 8 with Spadaro and came away impressed.

"It remains one of the last undeveloped islands in Maryland and is perhaps the only undeveloped island in Anne Arundel County," he said. "My sense is that the delegation is very supportive of working with the Magothy River Association."

However, the delegation has not introduced any legislation to push the state to buy Dobbins Island, and Schuh could not give a timeline.

Clickner said he and his wife had also met with officials, but got another reaction.

"Every government official we have talked to - be it state, local or federal - has no interest and wants to stay as far away from it as possible," Clickner said.

Clickner said he has gotten inquiries from sports and entertainment entities, but that he no longer intends to sell the island. And even if he were interested in selling his $825,000 investment, the island's value is in dispute, resting on the question of whether Dobbins is open to construction.

Clickner said that he has gone through the proper channels, and has gotten the necessary permission from the county every step of the way to get approval to build there.

The county agrees, with Tracie Reynolds, the county's land-use spokeswoman, saying he has so far gotten all the permits needed to continue.

She stressed the difference between the situation on Dobbins Island and neighboring Little Island, where Daryl C. Wagner built a home without permission, then got retroactive approval.

"Little Island really has blackened the eye of the county," she said, adding, "Mr. Clickner is not a violator. He has done everything he is supposed to be doing."

Environmentalists agree Clickner has acted appropriately, but have challenged the county's decision to grant Clickner variances to build on the island. They have argued that the island's steep slopes render the 7-acre crescent uninhabitable and that building there would violate the state's critical area laws.

In the meantime, Clickner constructed a 200-foot-long pier into the Magothy, and the county Board of Appeals declined to allow the Magothy River Association and Chesapeake Bay Foundation to challenge the underlying variance approvals because neither group owns property within 175 feet of the island and thus has no legal standing. The foundation is appealing.

david.zenlea@baltsun.com