The Egyptians built pyramids to honor their leaders. But former Rep. James Hansen found out that if you ask for an extra 8 inches on your headstone in Farmington, people will say you want special treatment.

Hansen on Tuesday withdrew his request to have a larger-than-normal headstone in the Farmington city cemetery.

City officials had been scheduled to hear Hansen's request during a City Council meeting Tuesday night. But earlier that day, Hansen delivered a letter to the city saying that he wanted to withdraw his request because of negative attention he had received about it.

Hansen, 74, declined to comment Wednesday. "This is a private affair," he said. "I've had 42 years of crap from the press. Therefore, I don't want to discuss it."

In his letter to the city, Hansen said that the complaints about the headstone request came after an article appeared in the Standard-Examiner newspaper in Ogden. The article was designed to "belittle" and "denigrate," Hansen wrote in his letter. "Due to the adverse publicity created by the media, I withdraw my request."

Hansen submitted his request in February. He had wanted to build a monument similar to one that marks the grave of former Gov. Scott Matheson, in Parowan. Farmington has a headstone height limit of 36 inches. Hansen wanted his tombstone to be 44 inches tall.

"I do not consider myself in any way special over any other citizen, but some of the positions I have held apparently are considered special by many people," Hansen said in his request to the city seeking a variance to the 36-inch rule.

Farmington Mayor Scott Harbertson said Wednesday that he felt bad about the whole issue. He doesn't know if Hansen will submit another request to the city for a larger headstone.

"I think if he had to do it over again, he'd have a family member or friend make the request, rather than himself," Harbertson said.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com