Data Center Registry
Sugar Hill Data Center (proposed, former Sugar Hill Golf Course)
Portland, Chautauqua County, New York
Sugar Hill Data Center (proposed, former Sugar Hill Golf Course) is a proposed data center in Portland, New York (Chautauqua County), operated by Four Winds of Lake Erie LLC. The public record puts it at announced March 2026, 44 acres. It is the subject of active public debate, with hearings, petitions, or organized opposition on record.
Every line on this page traces to a public source listed at the bottom. Where a figure was looked for and not found, the row says so. A blank is never a zero.
Facility record
Proposed
- Operator
- Four Winds of Lake Erie LLC
- Facility type
- Data center
- Location
- 7060 Route 5, Portland, Chautauqua County, NY
- Coordinates
- 42.3758, -79.5200 (approximate)
- Power capacity
- Not established from a public source
- Land
- 44 acres
- Investment
- Not established from a public source
- Announced
- March 2026
- Utility
- Not established from a public source
- Cooling
- Not established from a public source
- Water use
- Not established from a public source
- Jobs
- Not established from a public source
- Public subsidy
- Not established from a public source
- Community reception
- Contested
- Source confidence
- Reported by at least one credible outlet or filing
Timeline from the record
Newest first. Record entries come from the filings and reports the registry cites. Coverage entries are headlines from publisher feeds we monitor daily, linked to the outlet; last checked September 14, 2026.
- March 11, 2026ProposedTown of Portland Board passed a resolution expressing general approval of the proposed data center, subject to further review and additional details; no formal application had been submitted as of the 13 May 2026 board meeting. Source: The Post-Journal (Jamestown, NY)
Opposition and litigation at this site
Yes. Sugar Hill Data Center (proposed, former Sugar Hill Golf Course) in Portland, Chautauqua County, New York is contested. Hearings, public comment, petitions, or organized opposition are on record, and no lawsuit has been filed so far. The Town of Portland Board passed a resolution of general support on 11 March 2026, while residents of Portland, Brocton and neighbouring communities organised opposition meetings and collected more than 3,100 petition signatures against the project, citing generator noise, water supply, electrical demand and impacts on the Lake Erie Grape Belt.
How the community has taken it
Reception is a sourced signal, not an editorial judgment: contested means active public debate is on record, with hearings, petitions, or organized opposition, without litigation.
The Town of Portland Board passed a resolution of general support on 11 March 2026, while residents of Portland, Brocton and neighbouring communities organised opposition meetings and collected more than 3,100 petition signatures against the project, citing generator noise, water supply, electrical demand and impacts on the Lake Erie Grape Belt.
Notes on the record
Early-stage proposal on the grounds of the former Sugar Hill Golf Course along Route 5 (East Lake Road). Town Supervisor Rich Lewis characterised the project's stage as "we're on step negative one. We're not even to one yet." No megawatt figure, acreage or investment has been stated by the applicant in the sources reviewed, a board member's reference to "an $11 billion project" is a hypothetical raised in discussion, not an announced figure, and is deliberately not recorded. Coordinates are the golf-course polygon centroid; the built footprint is undefined.
What the record does not establish, and the document that would
In every fight on our tracker the decisive fact came out of a public records request. These are the requests for this site.
- Power capacity in megawatts
- Cooling method and water use
- Tax abatements or other public subsidy
- Permanent jobs promised
- Which utility serves it
Which document closes each gap
- Power capacity in megawatts
- The utility's large load service agreement, the interconnection request in the grid operator's queue, or the electrical site plan in the permit file.
- Cooling method and water use
- The water service agreement, any groundwater appropriation permit, and the mechanical narrative in the site plan.
- Tax abatements or other public subsidy
- The abatement, PILOT, or development agreement approved by the county, city, or development authority, and the state's data center sales tax exemption certificate if one was issued.
- Permanent jobs promised
- The economic development application or incentive agreement, which usually states a job commitment and a clawback.
- Which utility serves it
- The electric service agreement or the utility's filing with the state public utility commission.
Have one of these documents? Send it to us and we will add it to the record with attribution.
Questions people ask about this site
Is there opposition to the Sugar Hill Data Center (proposed, former Sugar Hill Golf Course) in Portland?
Yes. Sugar Hill Data Center (proposed, former Sugar Hill Golf Course) in Portland, Chautauqua County, New York is contested. Hearings, public comment, petitions, or organized opposition are on record, and no lawsuit has been filed so far. The Town of Portland Board passed a resolution of general support on 11 March 2026, while residents of Portland, Brocton and neighbouring communities organised opposition meetings and collected more than 3,100 petition signatures against the project, citing generator noise, water supply, electrical demand and impacts on the Lake Erie Grape Belt.
Has anyone filed a lawsuit over the Sugar Hill Data Center (proposed, former Sugar Hill Golf Course)?
No lawsuit over Sugar Hill Data Center (proposed, former Sugar Hill Golf Course) appears in the record we track as of September 21, 2026. Residents most often reach a lawyer over water supply, well drawdown, noise from cooling plant, property value, or a rezoning approved without the notice the ordinance required. If any of that is happening near this site, it is worth a review whether or not a case has been filed yet.
How much water does Sugar Hill Data Center (proposed, former Sugar Hill Golf Course) use?
No water withdrawal figure for Sugar Hill Data Center (proposed, former Sugar Hill Golf Course) is on record here. Water use is rarely published voluntarily; it usually surfaces through a utility service agreement or a state withdrawal permit, both of which are public records. We leave the number blank rather than estimate one.
Who operates Sugar Hill Data Center (proposed, former Sugar Hill Golf Course), and how big is it?
Four Winds of Lake Erie LLC is the operator on record. No capacity figure is on record for this site. The site is recorded at 44 acres.
How to cite this page
SueDataCenters.org Data Center Registry, "Sugar Hill Data Center (proposed, former Sugar Hill Golf Course)," updated September 21, 2026, https://suedatacenters.org/data-centers/four-winds-sugar-hill-portland-ny.
Facility data from Compute Atlas (E. Kubiak), version 1.34.0 (September 21, 2026), licensed CC BY 4.0, record https://www.compute-atlas.com/facilities/four-winds-sugar-hill-portland-ny, retrieved October 1, 2026.
Corrections with a public source are welcome at the Compute Atlas record or through our contact page. The whole registry is available as CSV and JSON under CC BY 4.0.
Sources for this record
As compiled and cited by Compute Atlas, with our own reporting appended. Archived links are used where the original has moved.
- 1.Portland Town Board addresses confusion and concern over proposed data center · WKBW (Buffalo) · retrieved September 14, 2026
- 2.Portland expresses support for proposed project at Sugar Hill · The Post-Journal (Jamestown, NY) · retrieved September 21, 2026
- 3.OpenStreetMap/Nominatim: Sugar Hill Golf Course, Town of Portland, Chautauqua County, NY (OSM way 136101486) · OpenStreetMap contributors · retrieved September 14, 2026
- 4.Area fully plugged in to data center debate · The Observer (Dunkirk, NY) · retrieved September 14, 2026
- 5.WEED Inc. engages advisors to evaluate strategic alternatives, 44-acre Sugar Hill asset (Four Winds of Lake Erie, LLC), Chautauqua County; data center and infrastructure development opportunities (2026-04-09) · WEED Inc. via StockTitan · retrieved September 21, 2026
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