A powerful committee of the City Council is scheduled to vote today on a plan that paves the way for a controversial redevelopment of Manhattan’s far West Side.

At stake is a plan that would completely overhaul the area that runs from 30th to 43rd streets, replacing mostly industrial development and rail yards with office buildings, retail space, high-rise housing, and, if Mayor Bloomberg has his druthers, a new football stadium for the New York Jets.

Analysts said the project puts the speaker of the City Council, Gifford Miller, in a politically difficult position. He has publicly declared his support for rezoning the far West Side but has said he has concerns about how the stadium would be paid for.

Complicating the situation is the speaker’s intention to challenge Mr. Bloomberg for re-election.

Today’s vote on the rezoning comes from the council’s Committee on Land Use. Without its approval – which is expected – the zoning of the far West Side can’t be changed from industrial to the type of mixed-use project the mayor has envisioned. Though the committee is not voting on the Jets stadium as such, it is expected to authorize the changes that will make that project possible.

As of last night, committee members were still discussing three key issues: the plan’s financing, the number of units of “affordable housing” to require, and the number of buildings to allow. Council members involved in the negotiations declined to speak on the record about the discussions.

The overall question was whether the committee and the Bloomberg administration could come up with a proposal that would defuse opposition from a number of community groups and elected officials. The administration says the proposal will generate $60 billion in tax revenue for the city and state over the next 30 years and create 230,000 permanent jobs.

For everyone concerned, the clock is ticking. The committee must vote by tomorrow to meet a deadline laid out in the City Charter. If the committee misses the deadline, members will be unable to put their mark on the project.

At a hearing last month, the administration said the overhaul would set aside 2,600 units of affordable housing. Housing advocates and some council members have said the administration must produce more units.

A more nettling concern that has been plaguing the project, according to a recent council report, is how the Bloomberg administration plans to finance it. The administration wants to create a quasi-governmental entity to issue long-term debt. The council is worried that taxpayers may ultimately have to shoulder that cost.

Council Member Gale Brewer, who represents the district just north of the development area and is chairwoman of the Manhattan council delegation, said she had concerns about how quickly the committee members would have to bring this to a vote. She said the deadline causes a problem.

“For such a huge project as this,” she said, “the discussions and briefing are happening very quickly.”