MILLINOCKET – The clock is ticking on businessman and Town Councilor Matthew Polstein’s proposed $65 million upscale ecotourism resort, LURC officials said Monday.

The state Land Use Regulation Commission certified Polstein’s application for rezoning as complete and accepted for processing on Jan. 16.

LURC officials will recommend that the commission set a public hearing date for the application in March at its meeting in Augusta on Feb. 7.

“I know we are shooting for the end of March and I am not sure if we have actually picked a date,” said Scott Rollins, LURC’s permitting and compliance division manager. “It’s still fairly early, but we have enough information to accept it for processing and start our work and send it out to other agencies for comment.”

The hearing will be held in Millinocket, probably at the Baxter State Park Authority offices on Balsam Drive because of available meeting space.

The commission might require only one hearing before rendering a verdict, Rollins said Monday.

The state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the state Department of Conservation’s Natural Areas Program, Maine’s soil scientist, the Penobscot County commissioners office, the Eastern Maine Development Corp. and the Natural Resources Council of Maine are among the agencies reviewing or commenting on the application, said Billie J. MacLean, LURC’s regional representative in the Ashland and Katahdin regions.

Polstein’s plan for Ktaadn Resorts calls for expanded Twin Pine Camps and a residential and mixed-use subdivision and resort community center totaling 35 residential lots and 12 mixed-use townhouses on 244 acres within 1,450 acres of Township 1 Range 8 along Millinocket Lake and Hammond Ridge.

An adventure learning center, 80-room adventure lodge, restaurant and meeting space, seven clustered family compounds and 20 resort homes are also part of his plans.

Polstein estimates the resort would create at least 100 full-time jobs, spur at least 60,000 visitor-days in the Katahdin region, or draw 17,000 tourists to his resort for about 31/2 days each.

Some of the most distinctive aspects of the proposed resort include agricultural centers, living and work space for artisans and other “creative economy” workers, and a traveler’s philanthropy program that encourages visitors to devote time, talent or money to the local economy.

If LURC approves the proposal, Polstein hopes to begin construction next fall. Total construction could take five to eight years, he has said.

Polstein said that he looked forward to the review process.

Copies of the proposal, the commission’s review criteria and other information are at www.maine.gov/doc/lurc/projects/Hammondridge.html.