Is Corso's ready to follow in Green Circle's footsteps?

NORWALK — Speculation has swirled for months, and now it's a done deal. About 7½ acres on Valley Park Drive in Norwalk has been sold for $75,000 to Rock2021 LLC, a company associated with Corso's in Sandusky. Corso's wants to build dormitory style housing for its seasonal workers, much like Green Circle Growers is doing. An effort to build a center in Sandusky was withdrawn earlier this year. Work is ready to get started for Green Circle Growers in Cline Street, which will house about 300 workers for the Oberlin business. But the Valley View Drive property as a potential project has more recently emerged as a possible location for a housing center. "I heard the rumblings about this about three weeks ago," Norwalk Mayor Dave Light said. "It was just finalized this week." The property is zoned R-3, which can "be triplexes up to apartment buildings," Light said, who said the purchaser is affiliated with Corso's Earlier this year Corso's officials said they were interested in purchasing an old church in Sandusky but later pulled out of the deal. Corso's Flower & Garden Center's horticulture division proposed a plan to occupy the former St. Paul Lutheran Church on Mills Street and West Perkins Avenue. It's near the former YMCA property. "This would house agricultural workers utilizing the H-2A (temporary, non-immigrant workers) visa program and collegiate student interns primarily from the Ohio State University Agricultural School," Jonathan Holody, the city's community development director, told the Sandusky Register. Holody said Corso's does offer housing to these groups today, but it's segmented and dispersed throughout the area. Corso's spokesman Fritz Mueller told the Register the business operates greenhouse operations, growing and selling perennial plants to the public and national home improvement stores. "We utilize agricultural workers licensed through the H-2A program governed by the United States Department of Labor," Mueller told the Register. "These H-2A workers are provided housing as specified by that program's regulations. They have been housed for the last several years in a variety of locations extending out to Sheffield Lake. "Travel times for these workers have been excessive. Providing a better housing solution for these workers is a top priority for Corso's. Sandusky provides a great housing solution, affording those workers access to good shopping options, activities and close proximity to our farm locations. Corso's welcomes the opportunity to invest in Sandusky." When those plans went south Corso's started looking, and it appears they have found their spot. "I've got concerns," Light said. "My concerns are can the infrastructure down there handle this ... streets, ingress, egress, sewer lines. "My concerns are city hall are the last to know about these things. We have no control over businesses want to do their business. We can not dictate what they can do with this property as long as they follow zoning laws. "If that is what it is going to be used for, will these people have to pay taxes like you and I have to. We are still going through this with Green Circle. "They pay federal and state taxes. The thing we are trying to figure out is if they have to pay city taxes. If they live in another country and this is their residence for 10 months they are not considered Norwalk residents. "I would be offended and upset if everybody doesn't have to pay their fair share of taxes. I hear they will purchase a lot things here and that is good for sales sax, but that goes to the county. We need the income tax to pay for our roads and police and fire ... I think there will be a whole lot upset people here if they don't have to pay their fair share." Light said this caught the city by surprise. "People are assuming a lot of things, but that is a huge concern," he said. "Nobody has reached out to zoning yet. We have not got a single phone call from Corso's. "There is not a thing anybody can do about it. We try to make the best out of everything." Mueller was unavailable for comment Friday afternoon.