KENTS HILL -- It's been on the market for more than a year, its future uncertain.

Now, an effort is afoot to keep Kents Hill Orchard working farmland, even under new ownership.

Maine Farmland Trust, a Belfast-based farmland preservation group, is brokering a deal to purchase the 84-acre orchard and resell it to someone who would continue to work the land and not develop it.

The trust is starting a fundraising appeal, hoping to motivate Kents Hill-area residents to subsidize part of the purchase, said John Piotti, the trust's executive director.

Maine Farmland Trust has signed a purchase-and-sale agreement with Terry Drake, the orchard owner, he said. Drake declined comment on the deal.

"We target properties that are vulnerable properties where the owners need to sell for whatever reason," said Piotti, a Democratic representative from Unity who also serves as House Majority Leader.

Kents Hill Orchard is vulnerable to development, he said, and it's a property worth preserving.

"It's a property that could easily turn into nice house lots," Piotti said. "It's also a community institution."

If the trust's purchase is successful, the orchard would become part of the organization's "buy-protect-sell" program. Piotti said the trust has no specific buyer lined up, but the group has a database of interested buyers who can be matched with the right property.

"What they are getting is the chance to buy preserved land," Piotti said. "Generally speaking, farmers will jump at the chance to buy preserved land. They don't want to develop it; they want to farm it."

The trust is confident enough it can find a buyer that it's going ahead with efforts to purchase the orchard, according to Piotti.

"We think it's a very desirable property and we will be able to find someone," he said.

The property's assessed value is $356,000, according to Readfield assessment records. Piotti said it's likely the farmland trust's purchase price will be higher than its sale price to the eventual buyer.

Readfield Town Manager Stefan Pakulski said a Maine Farmland Trust purchase with the objective of keeping the orchard farmland is consistent with the town's comprehensive plan, which aims to "retain rural enterprises as much as possible."

"There are people around who would very much like to see farmland retained," Pakulski said.

Piotti will speak to Readfield selectmen Monday night about his group's efforts.

Mary Wright, a selectman in neighboring Fayette, said she's willing to help the trust make the Kents Hill Orchard deal work.

"My main interest is that it stay farmland and not go commercial," she said, "because I think we need more open space."

Fayette Town Manager Mark Robinson said the town wouldn't be formally involved in the trust's conservation efforts. But there's wide interest in seeing the property preserved.

"It certainly is a great gateway to our town," he said. "If that is altered in a way that obstructs what we currently enjoy, I think that can have a profound impact on all who pass by."

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com