Burlington Council Approves Relocation Request from The Bingo Connection
At our May 17 meeting, Burlington City Council unanimously approved The Bingo Connection's request to relocate its facility as outlined by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario's (AGCO) criteria and procedures for establishing Bingo Halls.The Bingo Connection was asking to relocate from 484 Plains Road East to 2316 Fairview Street. Council's approval of the relocation was required by the AGCO. The Bingo Connection had originally applied to relocate their bingo hall to 1881 Fairview Street in Brantview Plaza in spring 2019 and Council had approved the relocation in fall of 2019 that would be valid for one year, unless extended by the Registrar (AGCO). The original approval process was delayed in early 2020 due to technical deficiencies to the building permit application and the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic. To support bingo operators during the pandemic, the AGCO granted an extension to all licenses/applications to May 2022.Also at our Council meeting, Council unanimously voted to turn down the application from Bingo, Bingo for a new bingo hall as lacking a market study or demonstrated community support for their operation.MY TAKE:The Bingo Connection is an established operator in Burlington for some 30 odd years and has existing relationships with the community. It was displaced from its original location -- not by choice -- and was looking to relocate to Fairview and then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Now that it has been able to gain its bearings again, I think we have a perfect solution in its relocation to and partnership with The Polish Hall. We have support from 20 long-standing charities for this move. The Bingo Connection knows its business and that's why I supported their request to move at Council.Regarding the request for a new bingo hall from Bingo Bingo, we heard from two long-established operators (Bingo Bingo and The Bingo Connection) that there is no room for two operators in a close location. That to me is the bigger issue -- the competition for the purse with regards to charities. We heard that from both of them. We also heard that when the public initially gave Bingo Bingo its endorsement, it was based on information they had at a the time and that when they heard The Bingo Connection wasn't closing and planning to move, they opted to support the business that had in turn been supporting them for the past 30 years. I also wanted to give our long-standing operation (The Bingo Connection) a chance to recover from the pandemic.If we didn’t have an existing bingo hall, we’d be welcoming Bingo Bingo -- we have to trust the operators of these bingo halls know their business and take them at their word when they tell us the charitable draw will drop with two halls in close proximity to each other.
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BACKGROUND:At its May 3 meeting, the Community Planning, Regulation & Mobility (CPRM) Committee will be considering two reports related to bingo halls in the city: one to relocate an existing bingo hall and one to open a new bingo hall.In its reports, City staff have not taken positions on either — committee has several options to consider as outlined in the Alcohol Gaming Commission of Ontario’s (AGCO) ‘Criteria and Procedures for Establishing Bingo Halls‘, they include:
- Approve the proposal;
- Not approve the proposal;
- Hold a public meeting to obtain further information upon which to base a decision and to allow the applicant and respondents to outline their position in a public forum;
- Require additional information from the applicant to substantiate the proposal or address any concerns of the municipal council; or
- Require that the applicant fund an independent market study to be undertaken at the direction of and reporting to the council to determine the impact that a new commercial bingo hall would have on the existing bingo halls and charitable licensees. Costs of the study will be covered by the applicant.
Here are the staff reports and supporting documents for each item on the committee’s agenda:
- Proposal for the relocation of Bingo Hall ‘The Bingo Connection’
- Proposal to open a new Bingo Hall ‘Bingo Bingo’
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