As the Cowboy State Daily reported, the Supreme Court decision June 13 said the group, Preserve Our Cody Neighborhoods, didn’t file its court challenge in a timely manner.
The City of Cody approved the project in 2023, and construction has continued while the legal battle made its way through court.
The resident group argued the city planner, an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was biased and should have recused himself from the project, according to an article from the Powell Tribune. The group also argued the planning board inadvertently approved the steeple height.
Supreme Court justices said there was “a great deal of confusion in the process,” but in the end, they decided the board’s action was final and the plans were approved.
Like the Cody temple, the planned Heber Valley temple is slated to be built much higher than zoning typically allows, and it received the go-ahead thanks to a zoning exception. And in both places, some residents said the proposed building would be too tall and bright for their community.
The Heber Valley temple is planned for construction across from the Red Ledges neighborhood on Center Street. It will be 88,000 square feet with a 210-foot steeple.
Attorneys in the lawsuit made oral arguments in 4th District Court June 3. The judge has said she will issue a written ruling.
