It looks like Nightingale Properties is ditching its original proposal for Linden Hills. The Penfield Planning Board received a letter last month from Nightingale Properties' attorney, saying that his client was making substantial changes to the proposal. A list of concerns and recommended revisions, the result of a public hearing last March on the proposed 54,000-square-foot office building and multi-story garage, was supposed to serve as a guide for Nightingale.

"It looks like we're going to be starting with a clean slate sometime in the future," says Doug Fox, Penfield's director of planning.

The company has pitched several variations of the plan to develop the more than 20-acre parcel of land that straddles the Penfield-Brighton town line. Corbett's Glen Nature Park is next to the Penfield portion of the property. Penfield's zoning allows for higher density development, which is what concerns many residents in both communities.

The Allens Creek/Corbett's Glen Preservation Group has lobbied hard for Nightingale and the Penfield Planning Board to be prudent due to the environmental sensitivity of the area.

"We know we cannot legally stop the development," say Jean Baric, a member of the group. "But we are asking for consideration."

The group went as far as to have the property appraised and then made a purchase offer to Nightingale for the full appraised value. The offer was declined.

Nightingale has not indicated when it will return with a fresh proposal. The firm has never submitted a formal application to develop the site, Fox says.