The market will now decide how many slot machines there will be at Chances Courtenay.
Courtenay council adopted a bylaw removing the restriction on the number of slot machines at the community gaming centre Monday.
Chances was limited to 100 machines, but this bylaw allows the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) to install slot machines as determined by market demand.
Council had given the bylaw third reading in late November.
When council was first debating this bylaw, more than 1,200 people had signed a petition to support more slots at Chances.
At the time, Greg Walker, the manager of public affairs for BCLC, told council BCLC would likely increase the slots between 25 and 50 machines depending on demand, starting with 25 and then assessing it.
"We have seen continued growth at Courtenay," he said.
Couns. Ronna-Rae Leonard and Larry Jangula voted against removing the 100-machine limit.
For Leonard, the issue was losing leverage by removing any restrictions.
Jangula was concerned about the negative impacts gambling can have on people and on a community, such as addiction and suicide.
He noted it was a "slippery slope" from when Chances asked to put in 50 slot machines when it first opened and then asked to increase it to 100.
"It does not make the community a better place to live to have 300, 400 slot machines," he said.
writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com
