As possible plans for a casino in North Bay continue to climb, citizens are taking action and publicly voicing their concerns over the proposed development.
The Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) will be addressing the rezoning of both the former Kenroc property on Memorial Drive, as well as the property located at 401 Pinewood Park Drive, from a "General Commercial Outer Core (C2)" zone to "General Commercial Outer Core Special (C2 Sp.)" in order to add "Casino/Gaming Facility" as a Permitted Use.
If passed, the rezoning would allow both lands to be used in the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) request for proposal for the Northern Gaming Bundle - but doesn't mean they will be used, only that they are available to choose from.
In response to this process, citizens of North Bay have voiced their opinion against the development of a casino on the waterfront in particular and are planning to come together Wednesday night. A Facebook page named, “NO casino at our waterfront,” was created by Jaymie Lathem to organise a group to rally together during the meeting.
“I think it is really important to have as many families and others there as possible,” Lathem writes. “Let’s make it clear that having a casino at the waterfront will hurt our downtown as an area that professionals would want to live, work and play in. Putting a casino in the Kenroc location would conflict with everything the recent Baylor report recommended.”
According to their Facebook page, 88 are interested in attending and 47 claim they will attend the PAC meeting to demonstrate their opposition to the rezoning of the land.
There is now a pro-casino Facebook group also.
Also being rezoned is the property located at 401 Pinewood Park Drive, but the group appears mainly opposed to a casino being built on the waterfront.
Rezoning the parcels of land have been a result of inquiries into the availability of the sites fro multiple proponents visiting the city in search of a potential location for the casino.
However, if the land is rezoned, it doesn't guarantee a casino will be built there, only that the land will become another location made available to choose from by proponents, and private parcels could always be chosen instead.
Currently, the OLG is finalizing their request for proposal process for the Northern Gaming Bundle, which also includes Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay and Kenora in addition to North Bay.
