FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Vancouver Not Vegas Issues Court Challenge to PavCo and Paragon BC Place Casino Plan
Details of lease agreement unclear for both City and Province
May 2, 2013, Vancouver: Vancouver Not Vegas announced today that it will proceed with the action it filed in November 2011 in the BC Supreme Court challenging City Council’s approval of relocation of the Edgewater Casino to BC Place.
The decision to proceed with the action results from PavCo’s announcement that it has signed an agreement to lease with Paragon Gaming Corporation allowing construction of a casino on the BC Place site. There has been no public disclosure or public hearing concerning the terms of the Edgewater Casino proposal contrary to the BC Gaming Control Act Regulation.
Sandy Garossino, co-founder of Vancouver Not Vegas, says “this project has all the earmarks of a financial fiasco. Incredibly, the public knows even less about the Edgewater Casino proposal today than it did in 2010. Once again PavCo has announced a done deal to the public, only this time without even the courtesy of telling us what we are committed to.”
PavCo was going to lease the land to Paragon for $6 million per year. In September 2012, the Vancouver Sun reported that PavCo expects to reduce the rent to $3 million a year. The current proposal does not reflect the highest and best use of the site. Nor does it provide any indication of any return to the City.
Coalition spokesman, Ian Pitfield, says “no disclosure has ever been made to the public detailing what’s proposed now, nor has any community input been sought as required by the Gaming Act and the Regulation. Nobody knows what’s planned for the site, whether the City will lose money on it, how much public money will go into building it, or whether and how much the taxpayer will subsidize leases on public land.”
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the action.
For background on the original petition, click here.
Media contact:
Ian Pitfield at 604-828-5494
ihp@pitfield.com
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