KED developer 'unwavered' by recent appeal of Superior Court decision

It's the legal saga that goes on and on Sudbury's Kingsway Entertainment District,or KED, was supposed to be built this year. But it's been held up with legal appeals from those opposed to the proposed casino and arena complex.

Last month, the Superior Court ruled in the city's favour, rejecting a challenge from businessman Tom Fortin, and bringing the project one step closer to reality. But last week, Fortin filed an appeal of that decision, meaning potentially further delays.

This comes as the city waits for a decision from the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal,or LPAT,which had a hearing in mid-September.It's now possible that decision could be reserved until the Court of Appeal process is complete.

Developer Dario Zulich says he wasn't surprised by the appeal and is willing to wait.

"I keep telling my partners, when you take a look at this big tree at Bell Park that was planted 50 years ago, you're not sure if it was planted in the, in the fall one year, in the spring of another year. Because you know years from now it will be irrelevant," Zulich said.

"So we can wait. Good things take time. We're doing this for all the right reasons for the future of our city."

The city said in a statementit remains committed to the project and "will continue to support its position both at the Court of Appeal and the LPAT."

Parties involved in the LPAT appeal are able to make submissions to the vice chair until Oct.19 on whether the tribunal decision should be released while the Superior Court decision is under appeal.

Zulich says he wasn't surprised to see Fortin appeal the decision, and that the KED partners are "unwavered in our resolve."

"We're just as confident as ever, we are still confident about the decision of the judge a month ago, and we're confident in our presentations to LPAT," he said.

"We are here for growth, and this project is going to transform Sudbury, it's going to change Sudbury, it's going to create jobs."