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EAST GREENBUSH — The owners of the Saratoga Casino & Raceway have begun telling local officials that they are abandoning plans to bid for a full-blown casino at the 10-year-old racino in favor of a new site in East Greenbush, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

The about-face comes less than a week after the Rensselaer County town quietly passed a generic resolution supporting "any reasonable" casino development in town, and after months of rancor in the Spa City between factions supporting and opposing a gambling expansion at the racino.

While East Greenbush had been among the locations included in early speculation about where a Capital Region casino might be sited by the state, Supervisor Keith Langley told the Times Union on Friday that he had not seen "any formal presentations at this point."

In a statement Monday, Langley said the town is "interested in learning more from the developer about this project, and seeing if there is a good fit for East Greenbush."

"The resolution the Town Board unanimously adopted sought proposals, and it appears we may have a solid proposal that can be placed before the Town for review," Langley said, citing the potential financial boost of between $5 million and $7 million annually that the project could provide to the cash-strapped town.

"It's still early, and we are looking to see what details and plans are presented," he said. "That amount of funding would help correct Town financial issues and help provide property tax relief to our residents if the project moves forward. So we are interested in learning more."

Comment on this story at the Capitol Confidential blog.

The news also comes just two days before would-be casino licensees must submit their $1 million application fees to the state Gaming Commission ahead of a mandatory applicants' conference scheduled for April 30.

When applications for the $50 million gambling license are due to the state in June, aspiring casino developers will have to show at least a cursory level of local support in the form of a resolution from local elected officials.

Last month, the Saratoga Springs City Council unanimously backed a resolution opposing the state law authorizing the construction of four upstate casinos because of what the body cited as its lack of provision for local control. While that resolution did not specifically mention the proposed racino expansion, it was widely interpreted as a rebuke of the project.

The East Greenbush Town Board, by contrast, unanimously voted last week in support of casino development.

Because of its longstanding relationship with gambling already at Saratoga Race Course and the racino, Saratoga Springs was for years seen as natural front-runner if the construction of new resort casinos were to be approved in New York.

But in the aftermath of November's statewide vote — in which Spa City residents opposed the ballot proposal 57 to 43 percent — the anti-casino backlash eventually prompted the racino's owners to look elsewhere.

Rensselaer County, just minutes from Albany across the Hudson River and accessible by Interstate 90, holds an obvious appeal.

Even before East Greenbush, Rensselaer County officials had already voiced their support for casino development there after the city of Rensselaer became the first to back gambling in an effort to lure a developer to 24 riverfront acres.

Rensselaer Mayor Dan Dwyer said that site, owned by U.W. Marx and known as De Laet's Landing, is still in play.

"Operators are interested in the property. We've got the site. We're shovel-ready," Dwyer said.

A Rochester-area developer, David Flaum, has already announced plans to apply for a license to build a $300 million to $400 million casino, water park and hotel off Exit 23 of the Thruway in Albany.

The change of course for the Saratoga partners puts Rensselaer County in direct competition with Albany County for $11.4 million in annual host community aid headed to whichever county in the eight-county Capital Region is ultimately home to the new gambling hall. Half that aid will have to be split with the host municipality.

In a statement, Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino said she wasn't surprised to see the interest in the county given that fact that voters there supported the November ballot measure.

"I have no doubt that a casino here can have a positive impact through the tax relief it will allow for and the job creation and economic vitality it will create," Jimino said. "I look forward to the seeing the proposals and continuing our efforts on the county level to ensure that if Rensselaer County is ultimately chosen as the home for a casino that the high quality of life we enjoy here is protected and the benefits of the casino are maximized for all county residents."

Kenneth C. Crowe II contributed to this report.