Saving that village view — Westport moves to protect ‘iconic’ piece of Central Village farmland

By Bruce Burdett
Posted 4/1/18

Westport is pushing forward with efforts to save part of a most visible farm field along Main Road in the Central Village.

A section of Wood Farm and owned by James W. Wood, the lot in question is …

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Saving that village view — Westport moves to protect ‘iconic’ piece of Central Village farmland

Posted

Westport is pushing forward with efforts to save part of a most visible farm field along Main Road in the Central Village.

A section of Wood Farm and owned by James W. Wood, the lot in question is the southern portion of the cow pasture south of Partners Village Store (south of a stone wall that cuts through that field).

The property has been for sale for several years and has long benefitted from a farmland property tax break which means that the town has right of first refusal on its purchase.

Last week, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to transfer that right to the Westport Land Conservation Trust which will work to buy the 2.48 acres on the west side of Main Road next to the old fire station.

The two boards had also discussed such a transfer at their previous meeting.

“We feel the property is a perfect example of one to protect,” said Ross Moran, executive director of the land trust. “It is one of the last remaining agricultural pieces in Central Village and symbolic of the protection the town has done around its agricultural community.”

He added that protecting it from development is important for the Angeline Brook watershed which flows past the rear of the property. Angeline Brook is home to one of the most important remaining native sea-run brook trout populations in southern New England. Sea-run brook trout are vulnerable to development because they can only live in clean, cold freshwater streams that are free of dams and other barriers.

This “would be a great spot to preserve, maybe some community farming,” said BOS Chairman Steve Ouellette. A land trust spokesman said they might also like to someday save the northern part of the field (closer to Partners) if the possibility arises.

Adding written support to the transaction were the Agricultural Open Space Preservation Trust Fund, the Conservation Commission and the Planning Board.

A For Sale sign had stood on the property for awhile but many took notice when a backhoe arrived in late 2015 and began digging perc test holes. When asked by Shorelines, a potential buyer declined to comment on whether he and a partner intended to build 40B affordable housing on the land as some believed.

That possibility prompted meetings by people hoping to find some way to protect this “iconic” bit of town.

“Houses there — a bunch of them — would really change the character of Central Village,” one of those volunteers said.

“I understand why people are concerned … It is kind of a gateway to Central Village,” said Ryan Mann, then head of the Westport Land Conservation Trust.

The real estate listing in 2015 (for a slightly larger parcel) said of the property, “Beloved by all is this pastoral lot of 3.23 acres graced by stone walls in Westport’s Central Village …”

The asking price for the lot that makes up the southern half of the field is $150,000. The Agricultural Open Space Preservation Trust Fund has offered to pay half of that.

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.