The Salt Lake County Council side-stepped a vote Tuesday on whether Hogle Zoo can ask voters to pay for the largest renovation in park history. And the zoo should be thankful.

While officials attributed the delay to legal loose ends, the reality is that politics remain hard at work on the County Council, where Democrats are outnumbered 5-4 by Republicans in supporting a zoo referendum.

That means the zoo's fate this fall could depend on one vote.

"I would hate for this issue to become a partisan vote," said Democrat Councilman Joe Hatch, who hopes a weeklong delay will help sway a Republican to his side. "It would be enormously tragic for this community."

So Hogle Zoo must wait - maybe until the Aug. 23. deadline - to find out whether it can proceed with plans to create more expansive, lifelike exhibits for its gorillas, giraffes and future polar bears. Plans also call for more parking and an animal hospital.

While the new zoo would cost taxpayers $8 to $14 annually on a $250,000 home, depending on the length of the loan, director Craig Dinsmore believes the bond will win support.

Historically, he could be right. County residents have twice approved the Zoo, Arts and Parks tax. And, in Salt Lake City, voters authorized a $10 million bond for the elephant and big-cat exhibits.

Dinsmore described the zoo makeover as a must Tuesday, saying "in today's world, there is no place for an OK zoo."

The question now is whether the zoo will have a place on the November ballot. Five Republicans are leaning against it - a partisan division that Councilman Mark Crockett described more as happenstance than stratagem.

What's clear to Hatch is that he still needs a fifth vote. He hopes to snag it by next week, when the council brings up the Hogle bond again.

jstettler@sltrib.com