Less than a week after approving temporary restriction designed to make it more difficult for homeowners to drastically expand - or tear down their existing home and replace it with a newer, bigger version - the Salt Lake City Council reversed itself. Tuesday night - on another 4-3 vote - the council repealed the ordinance.

Last Thursday, the council approved the ordinance on a 4-3 vote.

"I don't think everything that has been proposed makes sense for the entire city," said Councilman Dale Lambert, who cast the swing vote Tuesday.

The issue is far from over though.

The council clearly is set on implementing restrictions for various neighborhoods where big homes - in one case in the Avenues a 16,000-square-foot rebuild sits next to a 1,300 -square-foot neighbor - have become a big problem.

But the time it will take to create such a policy clearly worries the three council members who still wanted the restrictions in place.

"It's not going to be done in a month," said Jill Remington-Love. "It's probably not going to be done in a year."

The measure didn't prohibit the expansion and rebuilding of homes, but required builders to get special approval from the city's planning director or Board of Adjustments before starting construction. Some council members argued the city has holes in its zoning laws that some builders exploited, contributing to construction that changed the character of neighborhoods.

"What about the property rights of the neighbors that are adversely affected," asked Councilman Eric Jergenson.

But the council members that repealed the ordinance said the measure was just too broad to work for the entire city.

"It's still too broad," said Carlton Christensen.