VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A new agreement to move the old Edgewater Casino to BC Place has made critics furious once again.

This is a scaled-back proposal, after Vancouver City Council shot down a $500-million expansion two years ago that would have doubled the capacity of the casino and included a hotel. But, at the time, council did say Paragon Gaming could move across the street, with the existing Edgewater Casino operation and its 600 slot machines.

That agreement has now been firmed up and Paragon Gaming has disclosed a deal with BC PavCo, which calls for a 70-year lease on the publicly-owned property.

Even with the scaled back proposal, it would still be Western Canada’s largest destination casino, and Sandy Garossino with “Vancouver not Vegas,” opponents of the original expansion plan, says size doesn’t matter.

“No major city in North America apart from Las Vegas has a major casino in the midst of a residential area. Paragon should be locating in a semi-industrial neighbourhood,” she tells News1130.

It’s not yet clear if the hotel originally proposed for the casino development will go ahead, too.

The deal was signed in March and includes a lease payment of $3 million a year to PavCo.

Paragon has applied to the City of Vancouver to extend the operating permit for Edgewater Casino’s current location until the end of 2016.