The LDS Church has filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit over the Heber Valley temple.
A group of four residents filed the lawsuit against Wasatch County Nov. 29, shortly after the county council voted unanimously to approve the temple plans. The residents say the county’s decisions were illegal and want the development agreement voided.
Now, the LDS Church wants to join the county as a defendant in the case.
Wasatch County Deputy Attorney Jon Woodard said he’s not surprised by the move.
“It’s not uncommon in a case like this, when a property owner’s rights would be affected by the litigation, for them to intervene in a lawsuit,” he said.
Last week, the county filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. On Monday, Jan. 22, church lawyers motioned to intervene.
They said the church has a right to intervene because it has an interest in defending its property. They also said Wasatch County’s “primary interest is protecting the public generally rather than the church,” so the church feels it needs its own representation in the suit.
An attorney representing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said the church has a direct interest in the lawsuit and wishes to be heard directly.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys did not immediately respond to KPCW’s requests for comment.
The church first announced its plans to build a temple in the Heber Valley in 2021. In Nov. 2023, the Wasatch County Council approved plans for an 88,000-square-foot building with a 210-foot steeple. It would be built on an 18-acre site on Center Street, just outside the Heber City limits.
The residents’ lawsuit isn’t the only challenge to the Heber Valley temple plans: members of the citizen group Save Wasatch Back Dark Skies are still fighting the county lighting ordinance adopted in connection with the temple application. The same group is working to get a referendum on the ballot to overturn the ordinance that approved temple plans. It needs 3,200 signatures by Thursday, Jan. 25.