'Very concerning': Camrose casino wants to move to southeast Edmonton
Residents in southeast Edmonton are concerned after finding out that a casino could soon be relocating to their neighbourhood.
Capital City Casinos has applied to move their existing Camrose casino to a vacant lot along Parsons Road in Edmonton.
“We’re concerned about obviously the traffic, this is a horrendous bottleneck right now with South Edmonton Common, and just two lanes going back and forth,” said Neil Richards. “It’s going to make it a nightmare for people that commute."
Richards lives in the Summerside neighbourhood, just two kilometres away from the relocation site.
“Nothing good is going to come out of putting up a 60,000 square foot casino,” he added.
According to the application, the casino would have an estimated 550 slot machines and 25 games tables. There would also be a show lounge, theatre, hotel, and conference facilities.
“Sure, there’s a lot of commercial, industrial area, but you’re also quite close to residents,” said Coun. Keren Tang, who represents the area.
She says she’s received a number of complaints from residents, as the project enters the second phase of planning following preliminary zoning and licencing approval.
“So they’re operating well within what is allowed under the current regulatory zoning requirements. But it kind of happened out of the blue, and no touchpoint with city administration at any point about this feels very concerning.” she told CTV News Edmonton.
Tang is encouraging residents who have concerns to contact Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis directly. She plans to write a letter to AGLC as well.
AGLC released the following written statement on the relocation:
“AGLC will determine if the proposed project can move forward to Step Three in the process. The AGLC Board will then approve or deny the relocation proposal, taking into consideration community and stakeholder input, market demand, benefits to charitable groups and impact on other charitable gaming activities in the community. ”
The deadline for public feedback is Wednesday.
It is expected the AGLC will make a decision on the relocation later this year.
AGLC also confirmed that if the relocation goes ahead, the casino would continue to serve the same charities in the Camrose area it does today.
The City of Edmonton says it is still reviewing the information and does not have an update at this time.
The president of the casino was not available for comment on Monday, but a spokesperson says he plans to address community concerns later this week.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Joe Scarpelli.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.
A dog and a bird formed an unlikely friendship. Their separation has infuriated followers
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.