By George Andreassi

INDIANTOWN — A large new subdivision will include at least 450 "work force" homes for teachers and public safety workers and might feature a community land trust to keep housing prices affordable, project participants said Thursday.

The developer intends to join with Martin County to apply for state money to subsidize 50 multifamily homes near a 15-acre school site on Allapattah Road, said Dodi Glas, a planner representing Indiantown Holding Co.

The plan calls for construction to begin in about a year, Glas said during a meeting of the Martin County Development Review Committee at the county Administrative Center in Stuart.

The Martin County Commission will decide Nov. 28 whether to support the developer's application for money under the state's new Community Workforce Housing Innovation Pilot Program, county Growth Management Director Nikki van Vonno said.

"I don't know how the board will respond to the proposal from Indiantown Holding," van Vonno said.

If the commission agrees to the partnership, the county would expedite the review process for the Quillen Development of Regional Impact, van Vonno said. The project includes a total of 2,250 homes and 150,000 square feet of commercial space.

The work force housing package might include a community land trust that would retain ownership of the property used for some of the work force housing, said Donna Carman, executive director of the Indiantown Non-Profit Housing Inc.

A land trust helps keep homes affordable by eliminating land value appreciation.

"They haven't exactly determined whether it's going to be rental or homeownership, but either way we can assist them," Carman said about Indiantown Holding. "We're looking forward to the partnership."

The group also is in talks with the developer about helping prospective homeowners qualify for subsidies and managing their finances, Carman said.

If the work force housing sells fast, the developers said they might build more units.

But county officials warned the developer the project faces potential stumbling blocks, including shortcomings in the road network and utility systems in Indiantown.

The Indiantown Company can not provide water or sewer services to the entire subdivision, James Hewitt, superintendent of the utility, told county officials in a letter.

However, the company has plans to build new water and sewer plants so it could serve Quillen, Hewitt said.

In addition, traffic on Warfield Boulevard soon might exceed state congestion standards, which could prevent the construction of new projects, County Engineer Don Donaldson warned.

However, the Florida Department of Transportation is conducting a study in anticipation of widening Warfield Boulevard, also known as State Road 710, Donaldson said.

Quillen is among more than a dozen projects expected to bring up to 6,000 houses and 3 million square feet of business space to Indiantown in the next two decades, county records show.