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How high is unlimited height?

That's what the Salt Lake City Council would like to know in the wake of a request by Salt Lake County to remove height limits on the Salt Palace Convention Center property between South Temple and 200 South from West Temple to 200 West downtown.

Current zoning in that area caps building heights at 75 feet.

Salt Lake County officials — who oversee convention-related matters — are considering two sites for a megahotel within the Salt Palace footprint.

The most desirable is on the northeastern side, according to County Mayor Ben McAdams, on land now occupied by the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, between Abravanel Hall and the main Salt Palace entrance on West Temple. A second possibility is south of there, on the northwest corner of the intersection at 200 South and West Temple.

But it is the Salt Lake City Council that determines zoning in the capital city. For now, the body is not convinced unlimited height is palatable.

At a public hearing Tuesday evening on a topic that has had little-to-no discussion by the City Council, a handful of residents said the request was puzzling

"This is premature," said downtown resident Kim Wilson. "This is a radical departure [from planned rezone applications]. There are no proposal details."

The county is looking to build an 800-room hotel to accommodate conventions — particularly the Outdoor Retailer trade show that comes to the Salt Palace twice annually. By comparison, The Grand America Hotel, 551 S. Main, has 775 rooms but takes up a much larger footprint than what is contemplated at the Salt Palace.

In terms of height, the Wells Fargo Center, 299 S. Main (completed in 1998 as the American Stores Tower) is 422 feet high — just two feet taller than the LDS Church Office Building, 50 E. North Temple.

That has led to speculation that such a large number of rooms in a convention hotel on a relatively small parcel of land could lead to the tallest building in Salt Lake City.

Dave Iltis of Cycling Utah told the council it should endorse the zone change because the Outdoor Retailer show brings millions of dollars into the city.

But the council seemed skeptical.

Councilman Derek Kitchen, whose District 4 encompasses downtown, was hesitant to move forward.

"It's premature without having the site itself [selected] or having any kind of rendering," he said. "I have concerns of unlimited heights and the precedent of zoning it could set."

Councilman Stan Penfold said he, too, was uncomfortable moving forward without more information. The council agreed with Penfold's suggestion that its staff gather information on building heights downtown before scheduling the topic for more discussion.

Since 2012, the county has sought a hotel developer to enter a public-private partnership to build a hotel that could serve as a headquarters for big conventions. In conjunction with the state and the city, it developed a $75 million, post-performance tax incentive to attract a developer.

Last fall, negotiations with Dallas-based Omni Hotels and Resorts to build a megahotel broke down.

The county issued a second request for a proposal, and, in February, opted to proceed with negotiations with DDRM Cos. of Sandy. That firm helped develop the St. Regis Hotel at Deer Valley and the Hilton Anaheim in California.

McAdams said Monday that hotel contract negotiations and the zoning-change request are moving ahead on parallel tracks to give the county more flexibility in negotiating terms desirable for taxpayers.

— Tribune reporter Mike Gorrell contributed to this story