The Westport Land Conservation Trust has entered into a contract to purchase the 46-acre Berry Hill Farm on Pine Hill Road.

The farm is famous for its blueberries, which have been sold for years out of a farm stand and at Lee's Market. Apart from rows and rows of blueberry bushes, the farm is also home to forest and wetlands that drain into the East Branch of the Westport River, and is near other protected farmland, water resources and forest habitat.

Property owner Bob Pierce has been in discussions with the trust to find the best way to preserve the property, and the trust's plan is to preserve it with a conservation restriction that will keep it in farming, and resell it at its restricted value. The resold property will include the right to build one house.

Trust officials put the total project cost at $1.3 million and have requested $350,000 from the Westport Community Preservation Act Fund, which must be approved at this year’s Town Meeting in May. The trust will have until August 31 to raise the remaining funds. Executive director Ross Moran said the trust is working to finalize a fund-raising plan and will be determining the fair sale price for the protected farm.

If all goes as planned, the trust will close on the purchase in November. This coming fall, trust officials will start the resale process, and plan to run it similarly to the way the trust handled recent projects at the Santos Farm and Walt’s Farm: The trust will establish a set price and request proposals from interested farm buyers.

Farmers interested in purchasing the land can send contact information to Info@WestportLandTrust.org to be added to a list to receive the bid package and more information once available.