Kingsway Entertainment District’s construction has not even commenced but the project is already stirring the pot. June 10 is scheduled to see a milestone teleconference that will aim to pinpoint a new hearing date of the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal. May 5 was supposed to see a highly-anticipated hearing which was canceled due to the dynamically changing situation.
For quite a while, appeals associated with Kingsway Entertainment District have been awaiting a response, as well as a solution. Back in 2018, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal saw appeals in relation to the rezoning and official plan amendments Sudbury officials had made in the past. Local organizations have also voiced their opinion when it comes to the casino location coming with the KED plans.
LPAT
The first days of May were expected to see a highly-anticipated hearing of the LPAT that had been scheduled at the beginning of this year. However, back in the winter nobody knew that the future held and the unprecedented situation could not be predicted. Physical distancing became the mandatory practice across Canada, meaning that the hearing could not happen in-person.
The process itself requires tons of preparation and the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal ultimately decided that a new date would have to be pinpointed. June 10 is projected to see a new meeting of all parties directly involved in the evaluation process associated with the tribunal. KED developer Dario Zulich stated that now is the time for action following many months of delays and postponements. He also spoke in relation to the proposed casino venue.
Gateway Casinos & Entertainment is still determined to develop its next casino venue within Kingsway Entertainment District. It will go by the name of Starlight Casino Sudbury and projections are positive. The CA$60-million casino location is projected to bring along new casino patrons and support the city coffers with hefty gaming revenue allocations at the end of every quarter of the fiscal year.
June 10
Mr. Zulic also made it clear that the City of Greater Sudbury and Gateway Casinos are more united than ever and they are determined to see the completion of this entertainment project as soon as possible. Tuesday is scheduled to see a meeting of city officials that will see City Manager Ian Wood shed more light on the large projects in the region.
At the moment, the City of Greater Sudbury has not revealed the particular point of the large project developers have reached. Casino Free Sudbury made it clear in December 2019 that it will fight. An application was filed with the Superior Court of Justice, as KED opponent Tom Fortin wants to prevent the project from happening, at least in its current form.
He pointed out that the unprecedented situation has led to substantial costs for the city coffers and the entertainment zone is about to cost even more. City officials made it clear that the City of Greater Sudbury expects CA$14-million hit by December 2020, as a result of the unprecedented situation and closed businesses.
