Zulich sees casino as key part of his entertainment development plans for Sudbury

Dario Zulich looks at the bushland he owns off the Kingsway and imagines a 5,000seat arena, a car racing track and a casino resort.

Gambling was originally left out of his plans in 2014 when he applied to have those lands re-zoned from industrial to allow a wide range of entertainment uses, including a water park, which was a pet project of then Mayor Marianne Matichuk.

Zulichsays he had removed the gambling portion fromhis developmentproposal because of how slow Ontario Lottery and Gaming was moving on its casino expansion plans at the time.

"Just recently and unbelievably the casino movement by the OLGhas accelerated and almost even surpassed the timeline in terms of the arena,"Zulichsaid.

He says he has met with several private companies bidding to operate five casinos in northern Ontario on behalf of the province and says all of them want to be part of a larger resort setting.

• OLG says long-awaited first step to northern Ontario casino expansion 'few weeks' away

Zulichis now applying again to have his property zoned for a possible casino.

"It is an eventuality that it's coming," he said. "So, like it or not, what we should do is make sure it helps us."

The request will come to a vote at the city's planning committeeand ultimately city council.

'Try and put the politics aside'

There is definitely opposition to expanding casino gambling in Sudbury, who will speak up when that decision comes before councillors.

John Lindsay, with thegroup called No Casino Sudbury,says the city's small cut of gaming proceeds and a handful of new jobs that would come with a casino just isn't worth the money being "vacuumed" out of Sudbury.

"So, if you take $50 million out of the community and you get $15 million back, how does that help us economically?" he questioned.

Lindsay's group has lobbied for the casino to remain at Sudbury Downs,in Azilda, however he says they would really prefer prohibition.

Former city councillor and planning chair, Frances Caldarellisays it will be tough for council to focus on land use planning and not on the larger issue of gambling.

"As much as we try to distance ourselves from political decisions, you can't ignore there is a political point of view in a decision like this," Caldarelli said.

"Look at what is best for the community and try and put the politics aside."

The final decisioncouldbe overturned by the Ontario Municipal Board, if it can be shown that other factors influenced council.

Even if Zulich gets the greenlight,the decision on whether or not Sudbury even gets a new casino rests with the private operator being chosen by the province.