The development of Noquochoke Village on 177 and the recent construction of an affordable duplex on Sodom Road are two victories. Now, members of the Westport Affordable Housing Trust Fund are looking for more as housing costs continue to skyrocket.

Interim Westport housing specialist Robert Barboza and members of the trust fund are looking for Westport land owners willing to sell the town parcels of land, preferably undeveloped, which could be suitable for the construction of new mixed housing.

Barboza said supporting the development of new housing initiatives is one of the goals in Westport’s most recent housing production plan, and trust members believe that actively promoting the construction of multi-family mixed income housing is in the town’s best interest and is the most cost effective means of creating affordable housing.

“Developing more affordable housing for residents of all income levels is an important tool to enable the town to reach “safe harbor” from potentially unfriendly Chapter 40B housing proposals,” Barboza said.

Chapter 40 B is a state statute similar to Rhode Island’s Low and Moderate Income Housing Act, which allows developers to seek “comprehensive permits” for their developments as long as they agree to deed-restrict 25 percent or more of the units contained in each as affordable.

In Massachusetts, as in Rhode Island, comprehensive permits are an available tool as long as the town’s overall percentage of deed-restricted affordable units does not reach the state-required 10 percent, and developers who file under the statute are eligible for streamlined approval processes that sometimes do not align with towns’ housing goals. Town administrator James Hartnett said Monday that Westport’s percentage of affordable units “is in the single digits.”

While Chapter 40B developments are “potentially unfriendly,” Barboza said, land acquisition efforts like Westport’s current push allow the town “to positively influence the location, type and pace of new housing development in Westport.”

Currently, trust members and Barboza want to hear from landowners who will consider selling eight or more acres suitable for the development of 30 or more housing units, upon approval of a comprehensive permit or some other permitting tool. Land with existing buildings, or land-locked properties abutting town land, will also be considered for purchase by the trust, he said.

Land owners should contact Barboza by the deadline at 2 p.m. Thursday, June 12. His phone number is (774) 264-5126, and he can also be reached via e-mail at westporthousing@outlook.com. The housing trust office on the second floor of Westport Town Hall is open on Wednesdays from 10-4.

If Westport finds suitable parcels and is able to move forward, it would be the latest feather in the town’s cap following the town’s recent partnership with Habitat for Humanity, which saw the completion last year of a two-family duplex on land purchased by the town from a private landowner. Previous to that, the construction of the Noquochoke Village housing complex was also accomplished via a similar avenue.

Funding for the town’s community housing goals has been supported by the planning and select boards, the community preservation committee, and Town Meeting voters.