It appears a proposed solar project in the town of Chautauqua has officially been abandoned after the property it was to be placed upon has been sold.

According to documents at the Chautauqua County Clerk’s Office, on Oct. 3, Catharine Regis sold 6455 Cadenza Passage to Francois Family Trust for $338,052.

In March, 2023, Arcadis/Forefront Power proposed constructing a 3.75 megawatt solar collection facility at 6455 Cadenza Passage, which is off of Chautauqua-Stedman Road.

In October, 2023, the Chautauqua Town Board ruled that the development would be given a positive declaration for the State Environmental Quality Review. That technical ruling meant more environmental studies would be needed before a vote on a Special Use Permit would take place.

At that meeting, town Attorney Joel Seachrist explained that any time a municipality has an application for zoning approval, it has to make a determination on the possible environmental impacts of the action. “A typical determination in most applications is a negative declaration which sounds bad but it’s not. For the applicant, it’s saying the town board has determined there are no significant adverse environmental impacts. The alternative to that is a positive declaration. A positive declaration says the board has determined that there could be significant environmental impacts and therefore they are asking the applicant to participate in a scoping process,” he said.

In a scoping process, Seachrist explained, the town and the public have a chance to “scope” what issues need to be looked at in further detail. After that, the applicant is responsible for producing an environmental impact statement. “It doesn’t mean the project is a go, it doesn’t mean the project is denied; it means there’s another step in the environmental review process,” he said in 2023.

After that positive declaration was issued, town officials did not hear back from the applicant.

It appears the sale has ended the project. At a recent Chautauqua Town Board meeting, Supervisor Don Emhardt said, “That project will not be happening.”

The Cadenza Passage was not the only solar project ordered for additional environmental studies in the town of Chautauqua.

In November, 2023, the town board issued a positive declaration for 6049 Wright Road, Dewittville, where a 5 megawatt project was to be located. The developer, Sol Source Power, has not returned to any town board meetings this year in response to the positive declaration issued.