Driving down Mountain Road in Pasadena, it's hard to miss the change that happens somewhere around the Long Point community.

Strip malls and housing developments give way to open spaces and some of the last remaining north county farmland. At least a half-dozen horse farms run from Chesapeake High School down to Gibson Island.

Jim Bilenki, a longtime resident of Sylvan Way, wants to see it stay that way. That's why he's concerned about a potential housing development along a stretch of Mountain Road designated as a Scenic and Historic Road.

"It's like a cancer eating its way down there," said Bilenki, a retired Navy...