Groups to appeal zoning on Kingsway arena and casino project

Two Sudbury groups are planning to appeal the rezoning decisions around the Kingsway arena and casino project.

The applications were approved by the city's planning committee last week. They will go to a final vote at city council next Tuesday.

However, Casino Free Sudbury and the Downtown Business Improvement Area say there have been legal problems throughout the process.

Gordon Petch is a lawyer representing both groups. He says the city should have assessed the economic impact to the downtown core in order to comply with the provincial planning act.

"It's beyond us why the municipality doesn't want to know the economic impact of this," he said.

"Because if you end up with a decaying downtown, it'll cost the city way more than the few shekels they'll get out of a casino."

Petch says he's troubled the city is still moving forward with the project.

"And that's what they should do now is stop and honestly do this work, independently, and then come back with public input after they've reviewed all this documentation, and then decide, do they really want to do this?" he said.

If council approves the rezoning, Petch says the appeal will go to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal., which recently replaced the Ontario Municipal Board.