DADE CITY - It looks like Berry Hill will stay rural.

Eight months ago, the developers of Berry Hills Estates abandoned their plans for 266 homes in rural northeast Paso County in the face of opposition from neighbors and county commissioners.

At noon Wednesday, they laid to rest any question of reviving those plans when they offered the land at auction.

Dozens of people gathered for the sale among the pines in a corner of the property, across from the Pasco Hernando Community College campus.

Blanton resident Tommy Johnson put in the winning bid of $2.15 million, or about $5,000 an acre for the 407-acre parcel. The landowners must accept the offer for the sale to be final.

Johnson said he plans to keep the hillside property rural by growing citrus and hay.

In recent years, Johnson, 63, has made a name for himself buying up agricultural land across northeast Pasco County.

Through their company, La Hacienda del Ciello LLC, Johnson and his wife, Jane, own about 340 acres of agricultural land in northeast Pasco with a total market value of more than $944,000. The land is primarily used for citrus, timber, hay and similar pursuits, according to property records. They also own a 10-acre homesite on Blanton Road.

Johnson's bid was about one-third the going rate for similar land, auctioneer Michael Peters said. It was also less than half the $4.39 million Avalon Investment Corp. paid the Touchton family for the land in 2004, according to Pasco County property records.

The owners' decision on Johnson's bid should be known in a few days, Peters said.

The auction was one of three Peters conducted in Pasco County on Wednesday. It was also one of several his company has handled for Avalon in recent weeks. Those other Avalon sales occurred in counties north of Pasco.

If accepted, the sale will put to rest questions about Berry Hill's future after the developers dropped plans in January to put 266 homes on the site.

The proposal drew strong opposition from neighbors and other northeast Pasco residents who saw it as a finger of suburbia intruding into their agricultural enclave.

The auction drew about 100 people, many of whom came just to see what would happen.

Ramona Vasko was among the spectators.

"I want to see if people are buying or are they not buying," Vasko said. "I have my own land I'd like to sell."

Vasko and her husband live near the Berry Hill property and own land scattered across northeast Pasco. She hopes the area can stay rural.

"I'd hate to see this become a bedroom suburb of Tampa," she said. "We've got enough of that."

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 731-8168. Keyword: Berry Hill, to see more photos and hear sounds from Wednesday's auction