RANGELEY – State development regulators have given the owner of Saddleback ski area approval to expand the resort with 18 new condominiums and five house lots as early as this summer.

The projects approved by the Land Use Regulation Commission are part of a larger $150 million, 10-year plan that includes as many as 275 condominiums and 310 condominium time-share units, and 165 house lots in a village-type setting on the western Maine mountain. Ski trails and facilities for hiking, biking and kayaking would also be added.

In approving the first phase of the expansion, LURC also approved roads, parking and utilities at the ski resort. Wednesday’s vote was unanimous.

Saddleback owner Bill Berry said the more extensive 10-year project would bolster the Rangeley area’s economy by expanding four-season tourism.

Berry’s family purchased the ski mountain in 2003 when it was about to close. Since then, the ski area’s lodge has been expanded and modernized. The Berrys have spent $15 million on improvements at what has been viewed as a family ski area.

John Cannizzaro, Saddleback’s planning and development manager, said the long-term expansion plan calls for phased-in construction of the condominiums and house lots, with some being added each year.

The long-term plan also calls for a 40-room inn near the existing base lodge in 2009, and a hotel with 60 to 100 rooms in 2014. In addition, two new day-use lodges would be built. The plan calls for three new ski trails per year and additional lifts.

The ambitious plans are largely dependent on market conditions.

Saddleback now owns more than 8,000 acres. It wants to roughly double the 1,960 acres currently zoned for development, with most of it in new trails.