Casino bid gets tentative OK

Great Canadian clears hurdle; could soon move to BridgePoint and add 300 slots

Richmond moved one step closer to receiving a full service casino last week when a tentative settlement was reached between Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, B.C. Lottery Corporation and the province.

The agreement clears the way for the relocation of the company's current facility, located on Sea Island Way, to BridgePoint Marketwhich Great Canadian Casino purchased for $9 million in October.

It also means the new facility will have an addition: 300 slot machines.

In May, Great Canadian sued the province and the lottery corporation for barring the Richmond-based firm from introducing slot machines at its four locations. The suit alleged "breach of contract, unfairness and a number of other matters."

Details of the tentative settlement are being kept confidential, but the company will be required to meet a number of conditions set out in the Gaming Control Act before final approval is granted. It must hold a public meeting, which will be satisfied by the city's rezoning process. The city received a rezoning application in August to allow for casino use on the site, once a public market, but vacant since the early-1990s.

"Great Canadian will work together with the city and the B.C. Lottery Corporation," lottery corporation spokeswoman Roberta Kjelson said.

The company said in October it has big plans for the 18-acre property, which includes developing it into an entertainment complex complete with a restaurant, dinner theatre, marketplace and possibly, a hotel.

Despite Great Canadian's interest in BridgePoint, executive director Howard Blank said it isn't limiting its options to moving to that particular location.

"We're looking at a number of sites," he said.

Coun. Kiichi Kumagai anticipates Great Canadian will be successful in its request for rezoning.

"The majority of council supported it through the process," said Kumagai, referring to the decision in June to allow gambling expansion, supported by six of nine council members. (Council voted down a similar request in 1997.)

Kumagai has had many discussions with Great Canadian representatives, and said there's more to the project than just a casino.

"It's more or less an entertainment area," he said.

And it's also a chance to generate new revenue, something Kumagai and other councillors have been seeking for a long time. Through a profit sharing arrangement, the City of Richmond receives about $2 million annually from the existing casino.

With a full service casino, the city's share could soar to the $6- to $8 million range reported by cities such as Burnaby and New Westminster. With the additional tax revenue from the development of the entire site, Kumagai said it could result in a windfall in the $10 million range.

Gambling opponent Bill Chu said Kumagai is trying to cut taxes at the expense of people addicted to gambling.

"The question really is a bigger one: how do we perceive the future of the city?" said Chu, who belongs to the Multicultural Coalition Against Gambling Expansion. "Unless we can make a clear decision on that, there's always an opportunity for these politicians to get re-elected."

Kumagai said any new money won't come soon enough to decrease the 2003 property tax increase that could be 4.75 per cent or higher (one per cent is about $1 million).

"I think that they could open up in February 2004," he said.