STUART — Martin County planners have cleared up the technical problem that was blocking a controversial proposal to allow clusters of suburban development on part of an agricultural tract in exchange for the preservation of the rest of the land.

A top state planning official signed off on the county’s proposal to update the county’s rules for the Institutional Public Conservation land use so they can be applied to privately held land set aside for preservation.

Under the Land Protection Incentives amendment to the county’s Comprehensive Growth Management Plan, the land designated for preservation could remain in private ownership if public agencies hold an easement on the land that blocks development.

“These proposed revisions will adequately address the Department’s concerns,” said Bob Dennis, a regional planning administrator with the state Department of Community Affairs.

But Virginia Sherlock, a land use lawyer who has criticized the amendment, said it doesn’t make sense to assign a Institutional Public Conservation land use to privately owned land.

Sherlock and other critics of the initiative said it will lead to urban sprawl in Western Martin County and place a great strain on county services, like schools, roads and emergency service.

The next step in the process is for County Attorney Stephen Fry to confer with a state Community Affairs lawyer to finalize the language for the amendment, said Clyde Dulin, a county planner overseeing the amendment.

Once the revision is completed, the amendment would go back to the County Commission for final approval, Dulin said.

Depending on the outcome of an administrative appeal filed by the Everglades Law Center and 1,000 Friends of Florida, Dulin said, land owners may be able to submit applications to develop agricultural land under the Land Protection Incentives amendment in September.

Mary Dawson, a supporter of the initiative, said it will help the public obtain environmentally sensitive land for the clean up of the Indian River Lagoon at a time when the county, state and federal governments are cutting spending.

“My fondest hope is that a project will come forward and use it,” Dawson said. “When everyone sees how much good it can do for the county, all the trumped up opposition is going to go away. We just need the first project.”

Dawson added, “If one could come in in September, that would be spectacular.”