In a vote that will ultimately be decided in court, Greater Sudbury city councillors voted Tuesday to approve the rezoning necessary for the Kingsway Entertainment District.
The culmination of almost three years of discussion and debate, the district will see the city's new $100 million public arena built on property on the Kingsway, alongside a $60 million casino and hotel.
The casino required an Official Plan amendment, and it passed easily by a vote of 11-2, with Ward 1 Coun. Mark Signoretti and Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier the only no votes.
Signoretti, the most vocal opponent of arena/casino plan, repeated objections he has made in the past, such as concerns the parking lot for the district will damage the watershed and that no economic impact study has been done on the impact on downtown.
“We should be doing an independent impact report,” Signoretti said. “I'm not letting this go ... To me, this is not an exciting moment in our history.”
But Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini asked staff if rejecting the rezoning would mean a casino couldn't be built.
“Could Gateway (Casinos) still relocate to other areas that are zoned for casinos?” Vagnini asked.
Yes, he was told, other lands are already zoned properly for a gaming site. And Ward 7 Coun. Mike Jakubo said councillors have travelled a long road to get to this point, including last year's vote to build the KED. What they were deciding was to approve the staff recommendation that the casino complies to provincial planning rules. Staff must follow planning rules, he added, and can't give slanted advice to council.
“They were not biased,” Jakubo said. “From a council perspective, we can see an end to 2 1/2 years of hard work ... and finally get this project going.”
Ward 11 Coun. Lynne Reynolds said Minnow Lake in her ward, which borders the new district, is slated for widespread residential development, complimenting plans for the district. Plus, she said, the public is excited about the project.
“I wouldn't be here defending this project if it was otherwise,” Reynolds said. “This is all good news. It has taken decades for our city to have the foresight to build something amazing ... to attract that second night of tourism that we've been chasing for so long.”
Montpellier, whose ward includes Sudbury Downs that will close when the new casino opens, said he couldn't vote for it “for obvious reasons.”
Ward 10 Coun. Fern Cormier said he understands many in the community have a moral issue with the casino, and that there will be bad outcomes for some people. But the same is true for city bars, he said, or the LCBO. But it's their job to make a land use planning decision, not judge whether gambling is bad.
“I'm not the morality police,” he said.
But he had a different opinion on moving the arena. Unlike the casino, being built with private money, he said the arena is a public building he has always supported keeping downtown.
Cormier, along with Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh, joined Montpellier and Signoretti in voting against the arena rezoning.
With the approvals by council, the KED now moves to the province's Local Planning Appeals Tribunal (LPAT), which is the new body hearing such appeals. Businesses and individuals have raised significant dollars already to help opponents fight the decision.
Ward 5 Coun. Bob Kirwan, who strongly supports the KED, said he's sure the appeals will fail.
“If someone wants appeal, so be it,” Kirwan said. “I'm pretty confident that our planning staff and the consultant for Gateway has met all the conditions.”
The decision ends months of sometimes nasty debate, with supporters and opponents of the plan duking it out on social media. Developer Dario Zulich, who owns the Kingsway property, has come in for some particularly harsh personal attacks.
After the vote, Zulich said he was excited the plans are moving ahead, but said the attacks on him were sometimes hard to take.
“It hurt my feelings,” Zulich said, adding he decided not to fire back and stayed “on the high road.”
