Council members who voted against the recommendation said it was a deviation from the council’s process that would stifle public input as the council works to amend the deal before a final vote later this month.

The recommendation gives the council the option of quashing the project when it meets next Monday instead of conducting a final vote on Feb. 24, as it originally planned.

The vote came hours after the council received a favorable review of the project from a consultant it hired.

A Chicago-based consultant laid out strengths and weaknesses of the plan. Its preliminary report praised the arena-centered development that would bring a 500-room hotel without a subsidy and replace public infrastructure in the area on the developer’s dime.

“I think this can be, and would be, a world-class type of project,” said Charlie Johnson, president and CEO of C.H. Johnson Consulting Inc., which the council paid $215,000 to review the proposal. “A lot of work has gone into this [project] by a lot of competent, professional people.”

The firm’s report did not soften the stance of the majority of the council or opponents of the project who spoke during a public hearing held Monday. They asked the council panel to strike the ordinances from its docket.