The June hearing marks a fork in the road for the lawsuit, which began over a year ago.
A small group of Red Ledges residents alleges the county illegally approved plans for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to construct a temple in the Heber Valley.
Now, the residents are asking 4th District Court Judge Jennifer Mabey to side with them over Wasatch County and the church.
The residents’ motion for summary judgment essentially asks Mabey to find the case is clear-cut enough that she can rule in their favor without the lawsuit going to trial.
If Mabey grants their motion, the lawsuit ends in the residents’ favor. That would make the temple development agreement invalid and the church would have to start over to get approval for the temple plans.
If she denies the motion for summary judgment, the lawsuit would continue.
The church and Wasatch County have both opposed the residents’ motion.
They’ve also each filed motions for summary judgment of their own over the past several months, asking the judge to dismiss the case and let the temple plans stand.
It’s expected that all three motions will be considered at the June hearing.
The church first announced plans for the Heber Valley temple in October 2021.
Two years later, in November 2023, the Wasatch County Council unanimously approved the 88,000-square-foot building with a 210-foot steeple. The temple is planned for an 18-acre site on Center Street, across from Red Ledges and just outside the Heber City limits.
Within weeks of that approval, the residents sued the county, arguing the church should have gone through a different approval process. They also claim the development agreement encroaches on their property rights.
Their lawsuit asks the court to reverse and vacate the county’s approval of the legislative development agreement, plat and site plan.
The church is also a defendant in the lawsuit. Last spring, when the church asked to join the suit, attorney Tanner Camp told the judge the church wants to represent its own interests, rather than relying on the county to fight the case.
Now, Mabey is set to decide the lawsuit’s future on June 2 at 2 p.m.
Attorneys for the residents and the county weren’t immediately available for comment.
