Sudbury City Council concerned about LPAT, delays to Kingsway Entertainment District
Councillor Robert Kirwan's motion to have Ontario Premier speed up appeals process, was defeated
There was a lively debate Tuesday night at Sudbury City Council, over a motion to expedite the Local Planning Appeals Tribunal (LPAT) for the Kingsway Entertainment District (KED).
City councillor Robert Kirwan brought the motion forward, which requested that mayor Brian Bigger "request assistance from the Premier of Ontario to reduce or avoid additional delays regarding the adjudication of the Kingsway Entertainment District appeals before the LPAT."
Kirwan, who has been in support of the KED since the beginning, says the motion was not asking for the Premier to interfere with any decisions, only to expedite the process.
"This is an important project for Sudbury and the longer it gets delayed, the longer we have to wait, the more the risk for some potential collateral damage that we're not anticipating," Kirwan said.
Several groups in the city have filed appeals with the LPAT, including Casino Free Sudbury and the Downtown Sudbury BIA.
Kirwan says it's their right to appeal the KED, however, he adds the LPAT process itself is confusing and has been facing many delays. That is slowing any decisions for Sudbury's entertainment district.
"This particular case is of significant priority, not only to the City of Greater Sudbury, but to the entire northern Ontario area. And if the Premier can move things a little faster so that all parties can present their cases, that we can follow the rules that have been established, well lets do it as soon as we can to get a decision," he said.
Many councillors said they understood why Kirwan presented the motion, but also said the city had to respect the LPAT process.
"If I was bringing a motion, asking [mayor Brian Bigger] to go pound the tables at Queen's Park, it wouldn't be over an LPAT proceeding, I'll tell you that right now," councillor Fern Cormier said.
He added that there are more important issues in northern Ontario that the mayor could be requesting provincial assistance on.
"It might be over our district health units, it might be over cuts to education that are impacting us, it might be cuts to daycare and childcare that's impacting our budgets. It might be any of those things," Cormier said.
After some debate, councillor Kirwan's motion was defeated.
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