Despite appeals from Westbrook residents to keep the process of developing the state’s largest retail center moving, the City Council voted Monday to table the project.

Councilors cited respect for Councilor Suzanne Joyce, who recently broke her ankle and was unable to attend the meeting, as the reason for its vote to table the project. Council President Brendan Rielly said Joyce expressed a desire to be included in the vote and said he had spoken to developer Jason Snyder about tabling the vote until Oct. 20, when she would be able to attend.

The City Council voted 4-2, with Councilors Mike Foley and John O’Hara opposed, to hold off on the decisions to make changes to the city’s comprehensive plan and approve the proposed contract zone, which would enable the developer to move on to a site plan review by the Planning Board.

Councilor Lyle Cramer, who, along with Foley and O’Hara, has been a consistent supporter of the project, explained that he only voted to table out of respect for Joyce. Still, some weren’t pleased.

“Can you explain to all of us who have been here all night what just happened?” said John Bernier, one of more than 30 people to speak at the public hearing before the vote.

Though Snyder knew the City Council’s intentions before the meeting, the vote to table still wasn’t his preference, he said.

“Obviously, I would have liked the Council to have voted on it and passed it,” he said, but added that he understood the decision.

“It’s out of my hands,” he said.

Snyder first proposed the 1.6-million-square-foot, $300 million development on Stroudwater Street, called Stroudwater Place, in February. It has already been through a review by the Planning Board, which recommended the City Council make the necessary changes to the comprehensive plan and approve the proposed contract zone.

At the public hearing Monday, several residents gave the Planning Board’s recommendation and lengthy review as reasons for the City Council to continue moving forward.

“It appears some councilors have little faith” in the Planning Board, said Ed Symbol, who was a city councilor when the development was first proposed. He said the City Council shouldn’t delay the process, waiting for all the details, because perfect information “doesn’t exist.”

He reminded the Council of its decision to approve a tax increment financing district for Idexx with incomplete information and how well that worked out for the city.

“It’s better to do something imperfectly than nothing flawlessly,” he said.

Ken Lefebvre, a former mayor of Westbrook, said he was “shocked” to hear the City Council revisiting the issues the Planning Board took up at its 11 meetings.

“It was almost like the Council dismissed the recommendation,” he said.

According to Lefebvre, two things kill business: over-regulation and time.

“Don’t table it,” he said. “Just a little advice from someone whose made a few of these votes in his lifetime.”

Many of the project’s supporters acknowledged there are some risks and unknowns, but asked councilors to take a little leap of faith.

“It’s here today,” said Andy Broaddus. “If we don’t seize it, someone else will.”

About a dozen of the people who spoke at the public hearing didn’t share the sentiment of the majority, which praised the project for what it would bring in jobs and taxes. Instead, they asked councilors to consider the traffic, do more studies and be cautious in moving forward.

Eileen Shutts countered Lefebvre by asking, not how do you kill a business, but how do you kill a neighborhood?

“Bring in 30,000 cars a day,” she said.

Arthur Randall, a neighbor of the project on Stroudwater Street, asked the City Council to “make sure all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed before you raise your hand to vote.”

“Get it right,” Randall said. “There’s little room for second chances.”

The City Council will take up the vote again on Monday, Oct. 20. Though Cramer indicated he will be voting for the project at that time, Councilor Drew Gattine said he wouldn’t let it pass through easily.

“I do have a number of amendments,” he said.