Raise the Hammer

"...casinos’ one-parking-space-per-slot-machine ratio..."
http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=187026

My estimate of 1,200 parking spaces may be accurate, but there appears to be no fixed formula. The "4,000 spaces" may just be derived from taking the City of Toronto's and rounded up like post-penny change, or it may be conjecture, but as yet I have found no compelling reason to conclude that "the OLG model requires at least 4,000 parking spots" as a blanket measure.


City of Toronto
Zoning Status of Casinos in Toronto and East York District – Supplementary Report Regarding Parking Information
October 3, 2012
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2012/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-50698.pdf


Sault Ste. Marie Casino
Location: 30 Bay Street West, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Parking Standards: 1.0 parking spaces per 5 person capacity / 1.0 parking spaces
per 10 person capacity (elsewhere in the downtown)
Parking Configuration: Approximately 440 free on-site parking spaces
Gaming: 432 slot machines, 12 tables
Other Information: One restaurant, one bar

Caesars Windsor (Resort Casino)
Location: 445 Riverside Drive West, Windsor, Ontario
Parking Standards: Site specific agreement between the City of Windsor and OLG
Parking Configuration: Free on and off-site surface and structured parking, free on-site
valet parking (quantity unavailable)
Gaming: 2,323 slot machines, 81 tables
Other Information: 5,000 seat coliseum, 758 room hotel, 100,000 square feet of
conference space and 6 restaurants

Casino Rama (Resort Casino)
Location: 5899 Rama Road, Township of Ramara, Ontario
Parking Standards: 1.0 parking spaces per 8 person capacity
Parking Configuration: 2,258 free surface parking spaces
Gaming: 2,516 slot machines, 121 tables
Other Information: 289 room hotel, 5,000 seat entertainment centre, 10 restaurants

Casino Niagara (Resort Casino)
Location: 5705 Falls Avenue, Niagara Falls, Ontario
Parking Standards: Determined through Site Plan Control
Parking Configuration: 1,500 paid parking spaces in parking structure
Gaming: 1,500 slot machines, 40 tables (approximately)
Other Information: 3 restaurants, one comedy club

Fallsview Casino (Resort Casino)
Location: 6380 Fallsview Boulevard, Niagara Falls, Ontario
Parking Standards: Determined through Site Plan Control
Parking Configuration: 3,000 paid parking spaces in parking structure
Gaming: 3,000 slot machines, 100 tables (approximately)
Other Information: 1,500 seat theatre, 374 room hotel, 18 restaurants, 30 shops and
15,000 square foot spa

•

If the OLG is willing to be flexible, city zoning by-laws are a different matter. The Toronto report notes that "The parking standards for gaming establishments are identified in Section 200.5.10.10 Parking Space Rates and Parking Space Occupancy of the Draft City-wide By-law as a minimum of 25.0 spaces for each 100 square metres of gross floor area."

These requirements vary by facility. As the report goes on to note, there are prominent entertainment and tourist venues in downtown Toronto with strikingly modest parking capacity relative to their audience capacity, such as the Rogers Centre and Air Canada Centre, with 500 and 570 on-site parking spaces respectively, despite a combined capacity of almost 70,000 people.