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Hard Rock Casino Ottawa has buy-in from council’s rural planning committee to add more gambling tables and build a bigger entertainment facility.
The committee on Thursday voted 5-0 in favour of the rezoning that would allow Hard Rock to go ahead with a $318-million expansion at the Rideau Carleton Raceway.
Hard Rock is asking the city for permission to add 20 more gaming tables, for a total of 55 tables. The company’s application also calls for a 2,500-seat theatre and a 200-room, nine-storey hotel. Hard Rock plans to add 750 slot machines to the existing 1,250 machines, but it doesn’t need the city’s approval for the slots.
Hard Rock has the majority interest in its partnership with the Rideau Carleton Raceway. They won the Ottawa-based gambling rights from Ottawa Lottery and Gaming Corp. last year.
The horse track has been operating since 1962. The slot machines arrived in 1998, transforming the building into a small casino. Now, the facility is about to get the international Hard Rock treatment.
City council in 2013 decided to keep all provincially sanctioned gambling at the Rideau Carleton Raceway as the OLG was going through its “modernization” program. There was pressure from the horse racing industry to get council’s backing for the raceway, while Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk pushed a plan to build a casino at his Kanata property.
Andrew Wright, a director with the Rideau Carleton Raceway, said the partnership with Hard Rock will bolster the horse racing industry.
John MacMillan of the National Capital Region Harness Horse Association said the industry backs Hard Rock’s expansion at the horse track.
“It gives us hope for an even brighter future,” MacMillan told the committee.
Some citizens who addressed the committee expressed concerns about the road conditions around the Albion Road property.
Paul Norris of the Hunt Club Park Community Association showed the committee a video of the current road conditions leading to the casino and questioned if the infrastructure can handle more traffic.
“We’re going to put additional strain on failing infrastructure,” Norris said, adding that he wants the stretch leading to the facility to be a “showcase” like casinos in other cities.
Doug Thompson, the former councillor who spoke on behalf of the Greely Business Association, echoed the need for better roads in rural south Ottawa, especially Earl Armstrong Road.
The committee called for consultations for future site plans and an area traffic study.
Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans, one of council’s most vocal critics of the casino expansion, said a Bank Street entrance to the facility would be more appropriate than the current entrance off Albion Road. Deans expressed appreciation for Hard Rock’s willingness to discuss the traffic implications of the expansion.
Health concerns about gambling addictions weren’t part of the debate at the agriculture and rural affairs committee meeting, although Hard Rock vice-president Jeff Hook highlighted the company’s responsible gaming program. Many members of the Ottawa Public Health board are against expanded gambling access in Ottawa. The health unit has a new four-point plan to protect residents against problem gambling and it’s asking for a six-figure boost from the province to pay for the initiatives.
Council will vote on the committee’s recommendations Wednesday.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
The committee on Thursday voted 5-0 in favour of the rezoning that would allow Hard Rock to go ahead with a $318-million expansion at the Rideau Carleton Raceway.
Hard Rock is asking the city for permission to add 20 more gaming tables, for a total of 55 tables. The company’s application also calls for a 2,500-seat theatre and a 200-room, nine-storey hotel. Hard Rock plans to add 750 slot machines to the existing 1,250 machines, but it doesn’t need the city’s approval for the slots.
Hard Rock has the majority interest in its partnership with the Rideau Carleton Raceway. They won the Ottawa-based gambling rights from Ottawa Lottery and Gaming Corp. last year.
The horse track has been operating since 1962. The slot machines arrived in 1998, transforming the building into a small casino. Now, the facility is about to get the international Hard Rock treatment.
City council in 2013 decided to keep all provincially sanctioned gambling at the Rideau Carleton Raceway as the OLG was going through its “modernization” program. There was pressure from the horse racing industry to get council’s backing for the raceway, while Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk pushed a plan to build a casino at his Kanata property.
Andrew Wright, a director with the Rideau Carleton Raceway, said the partnership with Hard Rock will bolster the horse racing industry.
John MacMillan of the National Capital Region Harness Horse Association said the industry backs Hard Rock’s expansion at the horse track.
“It gives us hope for an even brighter future,” MacMillan told the committee.
Some citizens who addressed the committee expressed concerns about the road conditions around the Albion Road property.
Paul Norris of the Hunt Club Park Community Association showed the committee a video of the current road conditions leading to the casino and questioned if the infrastructure can handle more traffic.
“We’re going to put additional strain on failing infrastructure,” Norris said, adding that he wants the stretch leading to the facility to be a “showcase” like casinos in other cities.
Doug Thompson, the former councillor who spoke on behalf of the Greely Business Association, echoed the need for better roads in rural south Ottawa, especially Earl Armstrong Road.
The committee called for consultations for future site plans and an area traffic study.
Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans, one of council’s most vocal critics of the casino expansion, said a Bank Street entrance to the facility would be more appropriate than the current entrance off Albion Road. Deans expressed appreciation for Hard Rock’s willingness to discuss the traffic implications of the expansion.
Health concerns about gambling addictions weren’t part of the debate at the agriculture and rural affairs committee meeting, although Hard Rock vice-president Jeff Hook highlighted the company’s responsible gaming program. Many members of the Ottawa Public Health board are against expanded gambling access in Ottawa. The health unit has a new four-point plan to protect residents against problem gambling and it’s asking for a six-figure boost from the province to pay for the initiatives.
Council will vote on the committee’s recommendations Wednesday.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
