KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? An agreement granting an Oklahoma-based Indian tribe an option on land where it wants to build a casino was approved Thursday by the Unified Government of Kansas City, Kan., and Wyandotte County.

The three-year option is only one of many hurdles the Delaware Tribe would have to clear before actually being able to start a casino on the 34-acre site directly in front of The Woodlands pari-mutuel racing complex. The project requires approval from various state and federal officials, including the U.S. Interior Department.

Approval came over the opposition of Bill Grace, Woodlands owner who asked for a 30-day delay so that another potential site could be sought out. He said locating the casino where the tribe wants it would kill his struggling greyhound- and horse-racing operation. Grace has been trying without success for five years to get the Kansas Legislature to allow slot machine gambling at The Woodlands.

“We’re probably never going to get approval for full-fledged casinos in Kansas,” said Commissioner Don DeSeure. “We want a full-fledged destination resort casino in this community.”

If the tribe gets authorization to proceed with its plan, it would pay the city $2 million for the land and build a 75,000-square-foot casino with 2,500 slot machines, a bingo hall, and a dining and entertainment complex. In exchange for providing police, fire and other services, the city would also get 4.2 percent of casino revenues for the first seven years, and 6.5 percent annually after that.

The casino would be developed and operated by the Gillman Group, a Las Vegas company that operates tribal casinos in Mexico and California. Its president, Fred Gillman, estimated that the proposed casino would have gross annual revenues of $208 million.