Vernon is another step closer to restricting the number of slot machines in the community. In a 4-3 vote Monday, council gave third reading to a bylaw that would limit slot machines in Vernon to 300. Opposition came from Mayor Wayne Lippert and Councillors Patrick Nicol and Jack Gilroy, who believe Lake City Casinos should be allowed to have 400 machines. “Their business plan called for putting in a building that has 400 machines,” said Gilroy, adding that the city also gets a portion of the revenue generated by the casino. “If we take 100 slots out, that will have a tax impact of one per cent. Cities that have casinos have the funds to keep taxes down.”
City officials have stated before that even if the bylaw proceeds, Lake City Casino can have 400 machines at its Anderson Way site because they were shown in designs submitted to the city. But the business would be legally non-conforming under bylaw, something that is not popular with Lake City Casino or the B.C. Lottery Corporation. “They don’t want to be non-conforming. They applied for 400 and we went through an exhaustive process,” said Nicol. But Coun. Pat Cochrane isn’t too concerned about that situation. “If they truly have a big issue with what we are doing, they can put it in writing. If they chose not to go to 400, that’s their decision,” he said. Cochrane added that even if 300 machines were installed, that is far higher than the casino’s existing 210 slots. “They are getting a 50 per cent increase.”
Part of the strategy behind restricting the number of casinos has been to get money from Lake City Casinos for a social responsibility fund. “Some of us don’t agree with expanded gaming and if there is going to be expanded gaming, there should be some benefit to the community,” said Coun. Juliette Cunningham. Lake City Casino has refused to provide assistance for a social responsibility fund. Besides Cochrane and Cunningham, support for third reading of the bylaw came from Councillors Barry Beardsell and Buffy Baumbrough. The bylaw must still be adopted by council.
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