MONTREAL - A developer who wants to build luxury homes in Oka on land claimed by Kanesatake Mohawks said he is prepared to shelve his plans temporarily to give the town of Oka time to acquire the land.

"We concluded that we should reach an agreement for the benefit of everyone" developer Normand Ducharme said Tuesday after meeting Monday night with Oka Mayor Richard Lalonde.

"The lawyers are meeting today to work out a timetable for negotiations."

Ducharme said he believes the town wants to pay a lot less than the market price for the property, but added that there is no firm offer on the table.

"The mayor has his limits and I have mine," he said, adding that it is possible the town will acquire the land through expropriation.

Ducharme said both sides want to reach a deal as soon as possible.

Lalonde will issue a statement about Monday's meeting later today, a town official said.

The conflict erupted this summer over Ducharme's plans to build three luxury homes on land across the street from the Pines, the ancestral forest and cemetery that sparked the 1990 Oka Crisis.

On Friday, Ducharme made a highly publicized visit to Oka, saying he needed to clear away brush from the property. He left under police escort after a group of Mohawks prevented him from going on the property.

Ducharme has said he wants to sell the land for $400,000, but said Tuesday that his price is negotiable.

His company, Norfolk Financial, acquired the property in March 2009 from a business person who owed it $100,000 in mortgage loans, Quebec land-registry records show.

Two weeks ago, Oka's town council passed a resolution blocking construction on the site as "a significant signal to preserve the peace."