Too tall and too busy for neighbors, a proposed Bloomfield hotel that's a cornerstone of a $230 million complex was pulled off of the city of Pittsburgh's table yesterday after the developer and community groups couldn't come to terms, raising questions about the project's future.

The setback became evident at a Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting, when developer DOC-Economou -- with scores of residents poised to testify against it -- asked for an indefinite postponement of a needed public hearing. Board members advised that it might as well just withdraw its request for special approvals and start over.

"The community and the developer appear to be at an impasse," Brenda Yurick, a principal at DOC-Economou, said later.

Is the entire project threatened? She paused, then said, "I don't believe it's jeopardized."

"If the community puts together its plan, if the city offers some creative alternatives on the traffic side, and the developer commits to a master plan, this thing can be put back together again," said a weary-looking City Councilman William Peduto, who represents the area and was in negotiating sessions with the developer and community leaders every night this week.

The full development centers on the Don Allen's Auto City site, but the hotel would be across the street, replacing the empty building at 5210 Liberty Ave. DOC-Economou wants to build a seven-story, 90-foot hotel. It needs the zoning board to approve the presence of a hotel in the neighborhood, and the height, which is double what's normally allowed. It could win approval without neighborhood ascent, but might then face court appeals that could block construction for a year.

"The homeowners are not happy with 90 feet," said Janet Cercone Scullion, president of the Bloomfield Citizens Council. They would accept a five-story hotel, she said.

Mark Dellana, executive vice president of construction and development for DOC-Economou, said cutting floors would mean fewer rooms and no street-level stores.

Residents also are upset that traffic would flow on to tiny Powhattan Street, rather than busy Liberty or Baum Boulevard.

"They're planning to put the parking and the entrances and exits to the parking on our small, little residential street," said Laura Hodge, a Powhattan resident whose 6-year-old daughter uses the Osceola Parklet playground on the street. She wants the developer "to put the entrance and exit on Liberty Avenue, which is a main thoroughfare. That's what main thoroughfares are for."

During the week of talks, DOC-Economou cut the hotel down from an original 97 feet, eliminated 50 condominiums from the hotel parcel, reduced the store space, shifted some parking from the basement to the ground floor and moved some traffic off of Powhattan.

"We have completely revised the composition of the building," said Ms. Yurick. She said her team has met with neighbors 50 times, and will meet again.

At least six groups from Bloomfield, Friendship and Shadyside are weighing in, and they are not always in agreement. A tentative deal put together Wednesday night was nixed yesterday morning when one group said it needed more time to consider it.

The developer is willing to put forth a master plan for the entire three-block development, which is also to include townhouses, stores, offices and medical space. It wants to get that plan approved through the standard city planning process, while some neighborhood leaders want a modified process and restrictions on what's built on the Don Allen parcel.

"I don't know of anybody in the community that's opposed to this area being developed," said Mr. Peduto. "I don't view this as an end. I view this as a cooling-off period."