BROWNVILLE – Could it be that Brownville will become home to a 550-room, four-star hotel, 45,000-square-foot convention center, spa facility, 25,000-square-foot conference center, golf course, golf school and clubhouse, three restaurants and 400 time-share units?

That’s the concept plan that a California developer has for a 3,500-acre parcel near Norton Pond in this Piscataquis County community.

Jim Dennehy of Palm Springs, Calif., doing business as WHG Development, envisions building a premier destination resort called The Reserve at Norton Pond. The majority of its patrons would arrive via passenger rail at a proposed train station.

Railroad tracks now run to the parcel on which Dennehy has an “accepted” option. Provisions are being made with the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic, as well as the Eastern Maine Railway, to provide passenger rail service from near Bangor International Airport to the Norton Pond location, according to documents submitted to the planning board.

Dennehy has filed a subdivision application with the town of Brownville. The Brownville Planning Board will conduct a site inspection of the property considered for development at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9, followed at 6 p.m. by a board meeting.

Debbie White, a Bangor Realtor who is Dennehy’s Maine liaison, said Dennehy declined to speak this week with the Bangor Daily News about his proposal, preferring to wait until next week’s meeting.

Brownville town officials and residents are very interested in learning more about Dennehy’s proposal, Brownville Town Manager Sophia Wilson said Tuesday.

“The project proposed by WHG Development would represent a very large investment within the town of Brownville in terms of valuation and potential job creation,” Wilson said. “Now that the application has been submitted, the planning board will, with assistance from the Piscataquis Economic Development Council and Penobscot Valley Council of Governments, begin the review process.”

According to preliminary documents sent by Dennehy to town officials, he envisions constructing 200 time-share units and the golf course by April 2007, and the hotel, other time-share units and auxiliary buildings by the last quarter of 2008.

It was pointed out that the schedule is preliminary and subject to governmental approvals.

S. W. Cole Engineering Inc. of Bangor conducted the preliminary soil and wetland investigations on a portion of the parcel for WHG Development and found that the area inspected is well-suited for the proposed development.

Ames Architects and Engineers, also retained by the developer, said the project would significantly increase Brownville’s tax base, yet would have no impact on the school system.

No further information was provided in the documents about potential job creation, total value of the project, or funding sources.