The future of the Heber Valley temple has been debated in court ever since the Wasatch County Council approved plans in 2023.
A district court judge ruled in favor of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints earlier this year, but later said construction must pause after the neighbors fighting the temple appealed.
At the Supreme Court on Monday, Dec. 8, the church’s attorney, David Jordan, asked justices to lift the construction ban, saying he does not believe construction would cause “irreparable harm” to the residents.
“They talk about traffic; they talk about lights,” he said. “Well, those are not issues that will arise during the construction period. Patrons don’t go to the temple before it’s constructed, and the temple is not lit up before it’s constructed.”
He said if the court sided with the residents rather than the church, even partial construction could be reversed.
“Buildings get torn down all the time,” he said. “Now, obviously, no one would like to do that, but that’s the church’s risk – and a [risk] that it’s willing to bear and go forward and construct during the pendency of the appeal.”
One justice asked about the possible environmental impacts of construction, specifically building in a floodplain.
Jordan said the county approved the plans and took environmental impacts into account.
Robert Mansfield, the attorney representing the residents, told the justices the district court had correctly granted the injunction. He said groundwater pumping and construction traffic are significant concerns.
“I mean, during the construction itself, a million gallons of water per day will need to be pumped out of this site for construction,” he said.
Mansfield also said he was unconvinced by Jordan’s comment that a building could be demolished.
“If this court overturns the trial court, the first step is not going to be, ‘Okay, we admit we are wrong. Let’s tear it down; let’s start the process over,’” he said. “They’re going to keep it there as long as they can in order to obtain whatever approvals may be necessary to keep the temple going.”
One major question in Monday’s oral arguments regarded a bond associated with the injunction.
In September, 4th District Judge Jennifer Mabey directed the residents to post a $10,000 bond while construction is paused. However, church attorneys estimated the delays would add between $7.8 million and $11.4 million to construction costs.
Jordan asked the Supreme Court to increase the bond amount to protect the church from any financial harm caused by the injunction. Mansfield called a multimillion-dollar bond “just impractical.”
It’s not clear when the court will issue a ruling.
Plans for the Heber Valley temple call for an 88,000-square-foot building with a 210-foot steeple. The site is along Center Street, just east of the Heber City limits.
