Sudbury casino faces major delay

The Local Planning Appeals Tribunal set May 5 as the appeals hearing date, delaying Gateway’s Sudbury casino project.

Canada.- The City of Greater Sudbury council approved a new casino operated by Gateway Casinos. However, the licensing process entered into a legal battle and has been further delayed.

The Kingsway Entertainment District (KED) was hit with a surprising decision from the Local Planning Appeals Tribunal (LPAT). They set May 5, 2020, as the date for hearing appeals, much later than KED supporters expected.

However, the LPAT also rejected arguments from the project’s opponents. They wanted developers to stop working entirely. Furthermore, they wanted it to wait until the Superior Court rules on a separate motion.

“We were hoping it would be sooner,” David Shelsted said.  He is the city manager in charge of developing the KED and was surprised with the date.

“We still hold out a great deal of hope and optimism that we will be able to move forward with the project as intended,” Rob Mitchell, a spokesperson for Gateway Casinos, said. “That’s our hope right now, but at this juncture, I’ll need to take this back and caucus with our legal folks to get a sense of what the implications of this will be, in terms of pushing it out for another 10 months.”

“But certainly, we have made a commitment to the city and we very much want to fulfil that commitment.”