McCauley businesses upset by plans for bar with VLTs, off-track betting
Despite concerns over gaming outlet, new owner vows he will clean up area
Business owners in McCauley are asking city hall to deny a business licence to a new, adult-only bar and gaming outlet that wants to bring VLTs and off-track horse betting to a neighbourhood plagued with social problems.
Speaking for Viva Italia District Association, its president Teresa Spinelli says the business applying to take over 10821 95 St. — part of Plaza 95 and located beside another VLT lounge and betting centre, Dolce Vita — will harm the Little Italy area if allowed to proceed.
The space was formerly occupied by Santo’s, a restaurant and lounge with VLTs and off-track betting that shut due to smoke damage after a small fire more than a year ago, removing some of the problems from the area. But the plaza is still marred by drug deals, the sale of stolen items, drug use and violence.
“Police do their best, but it’s a dangerous place,” said Spinelli.
Plaza 95 is across the street from a children’s play area and down the block from the Boys and Girls Club. Spinelli won’t allow her 11-yearold son in the area because she is frightened for his safety.
“I live in the inner city and I love inner city people,” said Spinelli, whose family has owned the Italian Centre Shop, an anchor of the neighbourhood across from Plaza 95, for nearly 60 years. “I have no problem with the homeless. But those places prey on the homeless who are so devastated and vulnerable, and then they give them VLTs to play.”
The new owner of the restaurant and lounge, Dwayne Yuzik, says he plans to clean up the establishment to attract a different clientele and said he isn’t asking for anything that wasn’t there before.
He has already made improvements to the property, which he hopes to open in mid-February, including locking a dumpster in the back alley and installing surveillance cameras outside the restaurant.
“The entrance will be controlled and it won’t be a free-for-all with anybody coming and going,” said Yuzik, who plans a minimum food and drink charge to enter the restaurant.
Yuzik says he knows the reputation that Santo’s had, and has renamed the restaurant the Running Horse Saloon.
“There was a high propensity for drug dealing taking place in this neighbourhood and in this establishment and I will have zero tolerance for that,” he said, noting he has reported needles in the back alley to 311, spoken to local beat cops and reached out to residents.
The Viva Italia District Association has sent letters to the mayor and city council, registering concern and asking bureaucrats to
Putting a bar and gaming establishment right next to a kids’ park is just bad planning and it’s bad for Little Italy.
“refuse this type of business at this location.”
Ward 6 Coun. Scott McKeen is backing the group, noting that having two businesses with similar gambling attractions side by side is like a “small- to medium-sized casino tucked into a residential neighbourhood.”
“It’s a vulnerable community,” said McKeen. “I think we have a duty of care here to McCauley and just because (the restaurant/ lounge) was there before doesn’t mean it should be there again.”
But McKeen says it’s not clear what can be done to stop the business from opening, although he’s alerted the Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commission and the city’s permit department about the neighbourhood’s “grave concerns.”
A city spokesperson said a business licence application for 10821 95 St. is currently under review, pending further information from the applicant.
Miranda Ringma, co-owner for 15 years of Zocalo flower and gift shop located across the street from Plaza 95, points to a 2015 safety report produced by the city that reads as follows: “This small area cannot accommodate two businesses whose primary product is alcohol-based, and expect positive activity generation.”
“Putting a bar and gaming establishment right next to a kids’ park is just bad planning and it’s bad for Little Italy,” said Ringma.