Horse Racing New Brunswick denied zoning change to operate VLT lounge

Fredericton city council has unanimouslyvoted against amending thezoning variance to allowHorse Racing New Brunswickto set up itsvideo-lotteryloungeonAberdeen Street.

Residents from that neighbourhood cheered after they heard the vote.

The vote was taken at the city's regular council meeting Monday night.

The vote comes after it was learnedRobertaNixon,executive director of Horse Racing New Brunswick resigned from the position.

Nixon left the job after weeks of debate over the proposed expansion of the group's operations. Nixonsaid she resigned "for personal reasons."

She submitted her resignation to the organization on June 12, she said, with it to become effective last week.

Kathy McLeanis the president of Horse Racing New Brunswick andwas not taking calls from reporters on Monday.

Horse Racing New Brunswick wanted to open a video lottery loungeat 444 Aberdeen Street that would sell alcoholand allow betting on simulcast horse races

• Fredericton council hears 2 hours of debate about VLT lounge
• Video-lottery lounge zoning rejected by Fredericton committee

Councillorsvoted againsttheproposed zoning amendment that would allow the plan to proceed.

City planners had recommended the zoning amendment be approved, but the city's planning advisory committee recommended it be rejected before passing it on to city council.

Loud opposition

The proposal had been met with loud opposition from local residents who saidthe proposed operation does not fit the family character of the neighbourhood.

Horse Racing New Brunswick has been dealing with its own issues during the application for rezoning. It's locked in a landlord-tenant dispute with Fredericton Exhibition Ltd. and its lease expires at the end of the year.

The group's offices are located in a building on the Fredericton Exhibition grounds and it also leases space to operate Winners Lounge in the building, which offers simulcast racing and 25 video-lottery terminals owned by Atlantic LotteryCorp.

• Horse Racing New Brunswick gets injunction to resume operations

In May, Fredericton Exhibition Ltd. changed the locks on the lounge and the Horse Racing New Brunswick office, saying the group had violated the terms of its lease.

Horse Racing New Brunswick went to court toobtainan injunction, allowing it to return to its office andresume operations in the lounge. The injunctionenforces the terms of the existing lease, which expires on Dec. 31, 2016.

Nixon had no comment when reached at her home other than to say her resignation from Horse Racing New Brunswick is "for personal reasons."