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It appears that construction in Clarksburg Town Center could be back on track.

The Town Center developer paid a fine and submitted final plans Friday morning for the stalled project that is to be the heart of the community at the northern edge of Montgomery County.

But planning officials were cautious about giving the green light for construction to resume until they are certain the plan meets the requirements set forth by the Planning Board. A plan submitted by developer Newland Communities in October differed substantially from conditions set by the board.

"They addressed all my comments," Robert Kronenberg, supervisor of the county Planning Board's Development Review Division, said Tuesday afternoon. "It looks like they made every change that they were asked to make."

Douglas Delano, vice president of Newland Communities of McLean, Va., said Tuesday he is looking forward to finding a developer for the retail portion of Town Center.

"It's one step closer to being able to move the project forward," he said.

During a Jan. 14 hearing, the Planning Board ordered Newland to make minor modifications to its site plan by Jan. 31 in accordance with staff comments before the plan could be approved. When it is approved, Newland can apply for work permits and construction can resume in the community that has been mired by delays since hundreds site plan violations were uncovered in 2005.

Kronenberg characterized the changes as "very minor stuff." He said he was reading through the entire document submitted Friday to ensure everything was in order.

Clarksburg Town Center is to have a mix of single-family houses, townhouses, apartments and a retail district. It was approved for close to 200,000 square feet of retail space and up to 1,213 residences.

For nearly five years, Newland, residents and the Planning Board have been struggling to put construction back on track in the 270-acre development between Clarksburg and Stringtown roads and Snowden Farm Parkway.

Planning officials found numerous discrepancies in a plan Newland submitted in October. The number and type of housing units, the size of the retail district and details on the materials to be used for curbing and pavement were not in line with what the Planning Board had approved, Kronenberg wrote in a letter sent to Newland in December.

The board imposed a $22,000 fine for the time it took planning staff to iron out discrepancies between the plan Newland submitted in the fall and what the board had stipulated for the plan.

The Planning Board found that majority of the problems were corrected in the January submission and differences were so minor that staff could check the changes and approve the site plan.

In a separate action, Newland will have to ask the board for an amendment to build six more than the approved number of townhouses.

"I hope to get it today for signature, today or tomorrow," Rose Krasnow, chief of the Development Review Division, said Tuesday. "Are we careful? Yes, we want to be sure there are no hidden surprises."