A proposal for Westbrook’s largest condo project met favorable reviews from the Planning Board, which got its first look at the 140-unit development Tuesday night.

Developer Michael Cooper presented a site plan for Clarke Farm Village – a mix of affordable housing for young families and age-restricted condominiums for empty-nesters looking to downsize.

“Reasonable to buy and reasonable to maintain and occupy – that’s the goal,” Cooper said Monday.

Cooper is under contract to purchase the 30 acres of farmland east of Spring Street on the Stroudwater River from the heirs of William Clarke, who used to run a dairy farm on the site. Clarke’s daughter, Lisa Randall, said Monday she and her brothers didn’t yet know enough about the project to comment.

According to City Planner Molly Just, the project’s 140 units would be the most of any condo complex in the city, though two other large developments have already received the city’s approval.

Gray Goose Estates, on Harrisburg Avenue, is in the second phase of its three-part buildout of about 100 units. The developers of Stroudwater Landing, which is proposed for a site near Cooper’s development, behind the Animal Refuge League on Stroudwater Street, have asked for a Planning Board permit extension on building their 103 units, citing the poor state of the economy.

Cooper said he believes there is going to be a demand for age-restricted condos soon. If the project is approved, he expects to start construction next spring, and complete the project in four phases through about five years.

Cooper, former city solicitor for Westbrook, said at the meeting Tuesday he’s worked with many communities on both sides of development issues.

“I think this is the wave of the future,” he said about his project.

According to Cooper, his proposal is more than just a typical condo complex. With amenities like putting greens and community gardens, he hopes to get the residents of Clarke Farm Village out of their homes and interacting with each other.

“I think that’s lost, and it’s a shame,” he said about neighborhoods where “everybody knows everybody.”

Cooper said his plan will benefit other members of the community as well by creating trails on the four acres south of the Stroudwater River, which connect to city-owned property, through which he hopes those trails will extend.

The Planning Board reacted positively to the project at the meeting Tuesday.

“I’m impressed,” said Planning Board member Paul Emery.

Planning Board member Cory Fleming said she liked the underlying idea of “active living” within the neighborhood.

Within the development, Cooper’s plan includes walkways and hundreds of fruit trees that residents can enjoy – and won’t have to maintain.

“If they want to get their hands dirty, they can, but don’t have to,” he said Monday.

Cooper, 59, said he’s sick of having to mow his lawn and shovel his driveway, and he believes other people his age feel the same way. About two-thirds of his proposed condominiums will be single-family homes and duplexes restricted to people 55 years and older and maintained for them by a property manager hired by the condominium association. The starting cost will be around $220,000.

The remaining third is made up of multi-unit housing, with six buildings containing six units each, and another building with four units. Those condominiums are geared toward young families and will start at $180,000.

Though Cooper said he plans to tear down a barn on the site, he hopes to replicate its look in the multi-unit buildings. Throughout the development, he said, he wants to keep the farm feel. Part of the plan is to put up three-rail white fencing along Spring Street and the development’s interior roads.

In addition, Cooper proposed to keep the condominiums “green” by using geothermal heating.

“We could probably be the first city in the area to have an as-green-as-possible village,” said Planning Board member Rene Daniel.

Daniel also said he also liked the idea of the trail system, and his only concerns were the impacts to the schools and traffic.

Fleming suggested looking into adding some retail, like a restaurant or sandwich shop, to enhance the village feel, as well as a dog park and bike racks along the walkways.

Though board member Dennis Isherwood said he “always wished the cows would come back” to the Clarke Farm, he said he realizes that’s not happening and sees Cooper’s development as an acceptable alternative.

Cooper needs final site plan approval from the Planning Board before he can begin construction.