A spokesperson for the Local Planning Appeals Tribunal said Tuesday it's too soon to say when the dozen appeals filed opposing the Kingsway Entertainment District will come to the tribunal for hearings.
Becky Fong said the LPAT received the appeals Monday and were still processing them.
Sudbury businessman Tom Fortin, of the casinofreesudbury.com website, is named in all four appeals, as is the Sudbury Business Improvement Area.
Local activist John Lindsay added his name to the appeal of the rezoning to allow a parking lot on the site; religious leader Christopher Duncanson-Hales is joining the appeal of the Official Plan amendment to permit the casino, as well as the appeal of the rezoning required to permit the casino. Finally, another activist, Steve May, has joined the appeal of the rezoning to permit a public arena.
The groups are fighting to stop the casino from being built on the site, as well as city council's decision to move the arena from downtown Sudbury to the Kingsway.
Fortin has led a fundraising campaign to help fund the appeals, which are being handled by Gordon Petch of Municipal Law Chambers. A summary of their appeals document is available here.
Municipal Law Chambers also represented a BIA in Peterborough in 2016 that also appealed a rezoning decision made by local city council.
In that case, however, Peterborough wanted to build its casino in the city's south end, rather than downtown. The BIA went to court to try and force them to build the casino downtown, but later agreed to a settlement from the city: $150,000 in annual payments for 20 years, in exchange for dropping the appeal.
The LPAT is the new appeals body for planning decisions, taking over for the Ontario Municipal Board in January. Unlike the OMB, the LPAT's will review a city council's decision to see if it conforms to local and provincial planning rules, rather than start the process from scratch.
