Westport signs off on protecting 28 acres at Peaceful Acres on Drift Road, with public trails planned

WESTPORT Westport's Conservation Commission voted Tuesday night to accept a conservation restriction on the former Peaceful Acres land at 311 Drift Road, which would bar development on the 28 acres for good and, under the land trust's plan, keep them open to the public.

Ross Moran, executive director of the Westport Land Conservation Trust, told the commission at its Nov. 10 meeting that the trust is working to buy the property in December. Under the plan, the trust would own the land and the town, through the Conservation Commission, would hold the restriction, with the Buzzards Bay Coalition as co-holder, the trust's handout says. Members then voted on two seconded motions, one to accept the restriction and one to authorize signing it.

Westport's money buys the restriction, not the land, with $300,000 in Community Preservation Act money that annual town meeting set aside on May 5, and the trust's handout for that meeting said the town would pay that sum when the trust closes on the land.

What the land holds

The trust describes the parcel as open space with wetlands, several vernal pools, upland forest and the remnants of a small orchard that once grew fruit for the community, in its town meeting handout and on its website. It also holds part of Kirby Brook, which the trust says the state's Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program has designated a Coldwater Fishery Resource. The land sits next to 24 acres that are already permanently preserved, the trust wrote.

Moran told the commission that Kirby Brook supports native brook trout, and he said Westport has about six streams that do, which he called about half of those left in southeastern Massachusetts. He said the trust plans to tell the story of the family farm to visitors, and the trust's handout says it will build new trails. Drift Road is listed by the state as a significant scenic corridor, the handout says, and protecting the parcel keeps more than 400 feet of that roadside view.

What it costs

The trust put the purchase price at $1,125,000 and the full project at $1,285,500, which also covers $35,500 in transaction costs, $25,000 for site work, stewardship staff and overhead, and $100,000 for an endowment to care for the land and enforce the restriction. Its projected revenue lists the town's $300,000, another $300,000 from the state's Conservation Partnership grant program, a $250,000 lead gift and $435,500 in private money, which together match the $1,285,500 total.

Town meeting approved the money unanimously at 8:16 p.m. on May 5 as part of Article 17, the Community Preservation Committee's yearly list, after the Select Board recommended it 5-0 and the Finance Committee 6-0-2. The same article funded $400,000 for the WYAA tennis and pickleball courts, $300,500 for the Macomber Elementary School playground and $300,000 for the Westport Affordable Housing Trust.

The town's share comes from expected Community Preservation revenue for the fiscal year that began July 1, and the minutes say it is paid to the trust as a grant.

What happens next

The trust has to close on the purchase, which Moran said it is aiming to do in December, and the town then pays for the restriction at the same time, the trust's handout says. The trust says the property will open as a public destination once it owns the land. South Coast 360 asked the trust about the closing date, when trails will open and the status of the state grant, and will add its answers here.

The Conservation Commission meets again Tuesday, Nov. 24, with its meetings shown on Westport Government TV, and the trust can be reached at 508-636-9228.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.