The story will sound familiar to anyone who’s been following the efforts of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to build a temple in the Heber Valley: a massive steeple, bright lighting, church members eager to have the place of worship and neighbors equally determined to prevent its construction.
Last week, Aug. 6, the town council in Fairview, Texas, denied a conditional use permit for a temple to be built in the Dallas suburb. According to Texas news reports, plans called for a 44,000-square-foot building with a 173-foot steeple, and thousands of residents protested it would worsen traffic and obstruct views of the landscape and the night sky.
Some Heber residents made similar arguments, though local leaders favored plans for a temple to be built just outside the Heber City limits.
In November, the Wasatch County Council unanimously approved a proposal for an 88,000-square-foot building with a steeple that will reach 210 feet into the sky. Soon after, opponents of the plans sued the county, arguing the construction agreement is illegal.
But in Texas, it will be the church making appeals for a different outcome. Fairview’s mayor told local news he expects the church will sue.
The legal fight over the future of the Heber Valley Temple is still in process. In May, a judge granted the church’s request to join the lawsuit as a defendant alongside the county. The lawyers in the case have been filing documents in support of their arguments all summer.
Heber and Fairview aren’t the only communities divided by a temple dispute: Opponents raised similar arguments to try to prevent a temple outside Las Vegas, but the city council approved construction plans earlier this summer.
And in Cody, Wyo., the community has been arguing for over a year about plans for a 100-foot-tall temple. A lawsuit in Cody is awaiting a judge’s decision.
The church’s communications department declined to comment on the recent community challenges to temple plans but pointed to cities in Arkansas and California that embraced new temples.
