Cline Street property sold to Green Circle Growers

NORWALK — A 29-acre property on Cline Street has sold for $850,000 to Green Circle Growers. Huron County auditor Roland Tkach said the property was once farmland. There's no mortgage on the property and it was purchased with cash. Tkach said the previous owner died and his predecessor sold the property. The property was a topic of discussion earlier in the year when Norwalk city council considered passing legislation to allow dormitories in the city's R-3 zoning districts. Green Circle previously looked into purchasing the property to build dorms on the land for seasonal workers. There were two items of legislation allowing dorms in Norwalk this year but both were voted down by city council. Mitch Loughton, Norwalk's zoning officer, said he knows Green Circle Growers purchased the lot but hasn't spoken to anyone involved in the sale. The property is in an R-3 zoning district, which does allow for apartments. "Dorms didn't pass, so I'm guessing they're going to try and do apartments because they can. Maybe they're just going to farm it," he said. "I'm assuming there's going to be something coming if they spent that much money." When previously speaking about the dormitory legislation, law director Stu O'Hara said the Cline Street property has been sitting empty. "If it goes into some type of development, No. 1 the property tax would go up and that would be a benefit to the county, to the schools and to the city," O'Hara said. Calls to Green Circle Growers have gone unanswered at the time of publication. Mayor Dave Light said he's trying to arrange a meeting now with the new owners. "They want to meet with me so I thought that was great, we can get some sense for what they are going to do with the property," he said.