Norwich — A Portland, Ore.-based solar company has secured a purchase option for 271.51 acres of farmland and woodland property that was part of the defunct Byron Brook Country Club plan for a luxury golf course and residential resort in the rural Occum section of the city.

Aurora Solar LLC filed a memorandum of option on the city land records Monday, stating that the company has an option agreement to purchase the property from current owner Byron Brook Country Club LLC, the New York firm that had proposed a luxury resort for the property in the early 2000s. The country club project had received local planning permits but never came to fruition and was withdrawn in 2011.

The property has been for sale since the plan was withdrawn, with the price announced at $13.75 million initially.

No price was listed for the solar firm’s option or purchase of the property, which comprises several large tracts of land, including the former Tarryk and DoLittle farms on Canterbury Turnpike and Lawler Lane. The option agreement was reached July 13, 2017, but was not filed on the city land records until Monday. It expires July 13, 2018.

“The property has been for sale for several years, and it’s currently under option to the party indicated on the agreement,” attorney Glenn Carberry, who represents Byron Brook, said Wednesday.

Carberry said he could not comment on Aurora’s possible plans and could not disclose the proposed purchase price. The option does not include another 64 acres owned by the Byron Brook developers under the name M+A Holdings LLC in the so-called Occum Triangle. Much of that land is zoned for commercial development.

Aurora Solar is a subsidiary of Avangrid Renewables, which develops various wind and solar projects under various LLC names, said Paul Copleman, communications manager for Avangrid Renewables. The company also is a subsidiary of Avangrid Inc., which owns United Illuminating, Copleman said.

He said the company entered into the option agreement to study the viability of a possible solar project there. Existing Eversource transmission lines made the property attractive, he said. But it’s too early in the research process to say whether a project would be viable there.

The former country club property is in a Planned Development District. City Planner Deanna Rhodes said she has not been contacted by Aurora Solar. According to the zoning regulations, any electrical substation generating greater than 5 megawatts proposed in the zone would require a special permit with a public hearing, she said.

Approval also would be needed from the Inland Wetlands, Watercourses and Conservation Commission if any land would be disturbed within 100 feet of a brook or wetlands, Rhodes said.

Any solar project additionally would need approval by the Connecticut Siting Council, which also would require a public hearing.

Norwich Public Utilities spokesman Chris Riley said the city utility has not been contacted by anyone associated with Aurora Solar or its parent company and could not speculate on any possible involvement by NPU.

Copleman said Avangrid generally looks for property with enough land to make a wind or solar project worthwhile and a transmission system that connects to the energy grid.

Robert Mills, president of the Norwich Community Development Corp., said he would be disappointed if the large property were developed only for solar arrays.

NCDC has been eyeing the property for a possible new commercial park to expand the city tax base. Mills said he is aware that a plan for a second industrial park there met with strong opposition decades ago, but said a new plan would be for a business park without heavy industry.

Mills also would prefer the Byron Brook land be used for agriculture development along the lines of the recent farm-to-table food trend.

“We would embrace the solar with a lot of reservations,” Mills said. “If that’s all we have and that’s all we can get.”

Mayor Peter Nystrom said he has been aware since fall that the Byron Brook land was under contract for a possible solar project, but did not know any details, since the option was not yet filed.

“It’s not the highest and best use of that land, but it’s a use that provides tax revenue,” Nystrom said. “Not having read anything or been contacted by the developer, I’ll reserve judgment.”

c.bessette@theday.com

By the numbers

Aurora Solar LLC has secured an option to purchase 271.51 acres encompassing the following properties that were part of the defunct Byron Brook Country Club plan:

527 Scotland Road, 49 acres

253 Lawler Lane, 4.01 acres

207 Lawler Lane, 51.64 acres

Lawler Lane rear lot, 7.66 acres

432 Canterbury Turnpike, 92.6 acres

Bromley Lane, 2.56 acres

180 Lawler Lane, 38 acres

300 Canterbury Turnpike rear (north of I-395), 26.04 acres