After Surrey City council rejected a proposal to build a 60,000-square-foot casino in its municipality, the BC Lottery Corporation is pushing on to look for a new location.
It has expressed an interest in areas along Delta and Langley.
“As far as anybody wanted to relocate or bring another proposal in, the Township of Langley council will certainly consider it. How serious we are, well I’m not knocking down any doors,” said Jack Froese, mayor of Langley Township.
BCLC has expressed interest in areas more in the south end. For the Township of Langley the mayor says that’s a no-go.
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“South Langley is primarily agriculture and residential,” said Froese. “We’re not going through an official community plan update for Brookswood and Fernridge, and I really don’t see putting a gaming centre, casino in that area. It’s going to be residential or agricultural land.”
The mayor says one spot could be by the Langley Events Centre. The Township owns a couple of acres of property adjacent to it, but a gaming facility for bingo and slot machines is nearby.
The Events Centre also holds the office of Rich Coleman, the minister responsible for gambling.
The mayor says his first choice would be the location on 200th Street near Highway One. It’s an area already set up for commercial use and there’s existing vacant property.
“That area’s been developed for commercial, there’s new office buildings built there, and I think it’s a good area. You want to get hotels in that area, convention, we have a Langley Events Centre, which is a 5,500 ice and multi-sport complex,” said Froese.
The mayor says BCLC has not contacted him and if they did express interest his Township would go through the same public consultation process as Surrey.
BCLC hopes to narrow a location by spring.
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