A prospective buyer plans to turn a 10-acre property along Old Harbor Road into a live-in residential educational facility for teens.

The property at 435 Old Harbor Road is currently owned by Charles G. Merrow, and one of two lots that would house the school is listed on the market for $1.595 million. Earlier this week, attorney Richard Burke and his client, prospective buyer Ken Weber, appeared before the planning board to ask for input before a formal application process moves ahead. Weber said that if the deal goes through, several lots would be combined for a total of about 10 acres, and would be used to educate teens enrolled in school elsewhere, but who might be better reached in a private institution. Farming is a big component of the educational philosophy, he said.

“For at least six hours a day they receive educational services, so whatever school it is that they are enrolled in, we would have tutors on-site,” he said. “At the same time they would receive some mental health counseling and/or substance abuse disorder counseling.”

In a letter to the town sent prior to the meeting, Burke wrote that the for-profit educational institution would be licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health as an adolescent residential rehabilitation and educational facility. As it lies in the residential/agricultural zone, he noted that it won’t need a zoning variance as educational uses are permitted in that zone — building official Ralph Souza later agreed with that assessment in a letter to the planning board.

The property includes a main residence, a library, several barns and a shed, most of which would be used for various educational and lodging purposes. The students — a maximum of 12, with a staff of up to nine during the day — would be housed in the main residence, the library would be used for classrooms and offices for instructors and therapists, and the barns would be used for “agricultural programming.”

Farming would be limited to light vegetable gardening and chickens, Weber said, and “this setting is ideal for that kind of work. The idea is to keep (the property) the way it is, to keep it country, to keep it farming.”

Though they often hear from developers who shoot for the moon, board member John Bullard said it was refreshing to hear from one who proposes a sensible reconfiguration of an existing property for a new use:

Speaking of for-profit developers, he said, “many of them say if a little bit of development is good for profit, then a lot of development must be better. That’s not your approach and I appreciate that. It’s not an approach that we see a lot of.”

The emphasis on light farming and chickens also came as good news to board chairman James Whitin, who recalled spotting a group of six pigs hop over the property’s wall and ending up on the side of Old Harbor, as he drove by one day years ago.

“I’m glad you’re not going to have pigs.”