Latest news with #FairviewTownCouncil
CBS News
01-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Concern over controversial Fairview LDS temple continues after town council approval
Despite a lot of pushback, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been given the go-ahead to construct a temple with a 120-foot steeple in Fairview. After more than a year of going back and forth with the church, the decision came from the town council just after midnight. "I really thought that they were with us, they've been with us all the way along, but that decision floored me," Fairview resident Marlo Ballard said. Fairview mayor criticizes handling of the issue Fairview Mayor Henry Lessner proposed a max height of 70 feet and is not happy with how the church handled the situation. He said he and other council members felt they had to push this forward. "We were worried about being sued," he said. "We're a small town, 11,000 people. Even if we went into court and we won, the cost of paying for our lawyers and the staff time would be just outrageous for us." The temple will be located off Stacy Road, next to the church that opened in 2016. A church spokesperson said construction is expected to begin by late summer. In a statement to CBS News Texas, a spokesperson for the church said: "We are grateful for the outcome of last night's meeting and extend our sincere appreciation to the Fairview Town Council for honoring the terms of the mediated agreement. We know the temple will be a peaceful addition to Fairview and the surrounding communities." Residents concerned over future precedents "It's the weaponization of RLUIPA," resident Lisa Foradori said. "It was a law done in the early 2000s and it protects religious freedoms, so what they've done is basically said right out of the gate, 'We're going to sue you if you don't do what we want.'" "There's a federal and a Texas version of that, so whether we put zoning in place or not, it seems to be kind of irrelevant," Lessner said. Residents said they're concerned about the precedent this sets for other religious organizations in the future.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Church says McKinney Texas Temple will be renamed the Fairview Texas Temple as town vote nears
The proposed McKinney Texas Temple got a new name Monday, the eve of a vote by the Fairview Town Council on whether to approve an application for a permit submitted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The First Presidency announced Monday afternoon that the temple will be renamed the Fairview Texas Temple. The town council will hold a special meeting on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. CDT and is expected to vote on the church's application for a conditional use permit. President Russell M. Nelson announced plans for a temple in Prosper, Texas, in October 2022. The church announced in December 2023 that the location would be adjacent to the Latter-day Saint meetinghouse at 651 E. Stacy Road in Fairview. The Fairview Planning and Zoning Commission voted 7-0 on Thursday to approve the conditional use permit, but the commissioners attached several conditions. One was that the temple be renamed for Fairview. 'You would never hear McDonald's call themselves Sonic. That's just not OK,' commission member Lakia Works said. The commission also said it would require the church to: Reduce the steeple height to 68 feet, 3 inches, the same height as the church's meetinghouse next to the proposed temple site. Shut off the temple's exterior lighting on Sundays, Mondays and holidays, when the temple is closed, and every other night between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Limit the temple's light fixtures to emit no light beyond the temple's horizontal plane and below a color temperature limit of 3000 Kelvin. The area's zoning allows for a temperature up to 4000 Kelvin. The church has not said whether it will accept the planning commission's conditions. The town council is not required to accept the commission's recommendations. The church and the town have been negotiating for a year over the temple's size and lighting. A potential name change also was batted around during prior meetings. The church originally submitted plans for a two-story temple with four instruction rooms, a steeple of nearly 174 feet and 45,375 square feet of space. The planning commission and town council rejected that plan. Town leaders and church officials reached a settlement in November during mediation. The church submitted a new application last month for a one-story temple with two instruction rooms, a steeple of 120 feet and 30,742 square feet. The steeple ranges from 5.5 inches at its base to 3.5 inches at the top and would act both as a symbol of reaching toward heaven and as a lightning rod. To watch Tuesday's special town council meeting, click here. To learn more about the church's application, click here. Texas is home to more than 390,000 Latter-day Saints in more than 750 congregations. The Fairview temple is the 10th temple announced, under construction or in operation in Texas. Other temples in Texas include the Austin Texas Temple, Dallas Texas Temple, El Paso Texas Temple, Fort Worth Texas Temple, Houston Texas Temple, Houston Texas South Temple, Lubbock Texas Temple, McAllen Texas Temple, and San Antonio Texas Temple.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas planning commission OKs Latter-day Saint temple, but only if spire shrinks and lights turn off
After a three-hour public hearing Thursday night, a Texas town's planning and zoning commission unanimously voted to approve the concessions offered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for construction of a smaller temple. But the 7-0 vote set new conditions sure to be discussed Tuesday when the Fairview Town Council considers the church's request for a conditional use permit to build one of its most sacred edifices in the town. The commission recommended that the town council require the church to: Reduce the steeple height to 68 feet, 3 inches, the same height as the church's meetinghouse next to the proposed temple site. Change the temple's name from the McKinney Texas Temple to the Fairview Texas Temple. Shut off the temple's exterior lighting on Sundays, Mondays and holidays, when the temple is closed, and every other night between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. The commission and council rejected the original plans for the temple last year, when the church proposed a two-story temple with a steeple of 174 feet. The new application is based on a mediated settlement reached in November by church representatives and town leaders. It seeks permission to build a one-story temple with a steeple rising to 120 feet. 'We appreciate the opportunity to share our revised temple plans, which reflect the terms of the mediated agreement,' church spokeswoman Melissa McKneely said in a statement provided to the Deseret News. 'The adjustments in size and height were made in good faith to address local concerns and demonstrate our desire to be respectful neighbors. 'We believe the temple will be a meaningful addition to Fairview. We are grateful for the legal protections that ensure the free exercise of religion and look forward to being part of this growing community.' The commission listened to 33 people during the public hearing, with 20 speaking in support of the temple and 13 raising concerns about the height of the steeple and the exterior lighting. Commission staff said the church's lighting proposal complied with all Fairview ordinances. At one stage, the church had proposed turning off the temple's lights at night, but that offer was withdrawn in the new application due to the other concessions the town required in the non-binding settlement reached in November, said Paul McCracken of Kinley-Horne, an engineering and design consulting firm representing the church. McCracken said reducing the size of the temple and the height of the steeple created a substantial burden for the church, which needs a temple with four instruction rooms to serve a growing Latter-day Saint population in the region. The church agreed to accept that burden in its new application, which calls for two instruction rooms. He also said the church was not open to changing the name of the temple. The church has one congregation in Fairview and about 10 in McKinney. McCracken argued that there are no provisions for churches in Fairview's zoning ordinances, so any conditional use permit for a church or temple requires the commission and council to customize a new, site-specific district. The proposed temple 'fits the site,' McCracken said. 'It fits the location. ... To say that it's not a proper application or that it's not administering the code properly because it doesn't fit the requirements of a single-family home is not why we're here tonight. It's a conditional use permit zoning district, its own new zoning district.' Opponents who spoke continued to insist that the temple should be held to the 35-foot roof limitation for single-family homes, but lighting was a major part of Thursday's discussions. 'I think all of us agree that leaving the lights on all night is unacceptable,' commission chair John Adler said before the vote. The commission's new conditions also prohibits any light fixture that would emit light beyond the temple's horizontal plane and sets a color temperature limit of 3000 Kelvin. Church representatives told the commission that people begin to arrive at the temple at 5 a.m. on days it is open and the first sessions begin at 6 a.m. The final session begins at 10 pm and lets out at 11 p.m., when the commission set the exterior lights must be extinguished. Marsha Barlow, a Fairview resident who spoke against the application, said she believed the church could build a beautiful functional temple that still met Fairvew's zoning ordinances. Doris James, a 24-year Fairview resident who is a church member and a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, spoke in support of the new application. 'It's my professional opinion that with the revisions currently submitted for the temple, the plan is perfection,' she said. 'Perfect in size, perfect in scale, perfect in symmetry, and in my personal opinion, perfect for Fairview.'
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
LDS church applies for smaller temple in Fairview, Texas, after reaching agreement; new rendering released
SALT LAKE CITY () — says it has filed a new application for a , after reaching an agreement with the town. On Tuesday, the church released a new rendering of a smaller temple. The were released in December 2023, more than a year after the to be built in Prosper, Texas, in October 2022. Those original plans called for a multi-story, 44,000-square-foot building. A in Fairview said the spire of the original temple would have been nearly 174 feet tall. In November 2024, the church came to an and a smaller footprint: A building of about 30,000 square feet with a 120-foot-tall spire. With the announcement of the newest rendering and application, church spokesperson Sam Penrod told that the latest dimensions of the temple are those that were agreed upon during November's mediation with the town. LEARN MORE: Why this (proposed) LDS temple in Texas is at the center of controversy 'After the Town of Fairview rejected the Church's first application, the Church and the Town reached a mediated agreement for a smaller temple,' church spokesperson Meliss McKneely said in a statement. 'The Town Council unanimously endorsed the agreement, but the mayor later called for more concessions.' Earlier this month, Henry Lessner and the Fairview Town Council, saying the church's '.' The letter also hinted at possible legal action if the town's council withdrew its support for compromised plans. After receiving the letter, Lessner previously told that the town had met its commitments after mediation efforts in November, while the church had not done so yet. The church's announcement of the new application came about a week after Lessner initially spoke out against the letter. On Tuesday, McKneely said the mayor had recently expressed his support of the latest agreement and expressed his 'belief that the Town Council will stand by its word.' 'We look forward to continuing our association with the community as good neighbors and friends,' McKneely said. has reached out to local leaders in Fairview, Texas, for comment on the latest developments but has not yet heard back. Aubree B. Jennings, Matthew Drachman, and Spencer Mahon contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
