Fairview Council Denies Permit For 173-Foot Temple Spire, Church Members Threaten Legal Action
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Fairview residents celebrated a victory last week as members of the town council denied a conditional use permit for a 173-foot spire atop a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. But the next day, church members said they plan to take legal action.
More than 70 people spoke against the proposal for a “McKinney Texas Temple” structure on an eight-acre site on the north side of Stacy Road, west of Meandering Way next to an existing LDS meeting house.
The massive spire would have made the church the tallest building in Fairview and many surrounding Collin County towns. That’s the equivalent of a 17-story building.
Church officials have said the spire is of religious importance because it is a “representation of something reaching up to the heavens and it helps us look to heaven and God.”
Residents who live nearby told CandysDirt.com in June that they didn’t mind having a place of worship in their neighborhood. The problem is the incompatibility of the building height and the imposing spire.
“It’s way out of compliance and would be just massive for a residential area,” Fairview resident Karla Gant said.
Fairview Town Council Denies Permit
First announced in October 2022, the McKinney Texas Temple would be the state’s eighth temple, according to an LDS website. The temple would be about 44,000 square feet and multiple stories.
After dozens spoke against the conditional use permit at the Aug. 6 meeting, the town council denied the permit request without prejudice, meaning the church can present a revised plan to the planning and zoning committee and to the council without any time restrictions, the Dallas Morning News reported.
On Friday, Fairview Mayor Henry Lessner told The Dallas Morning News his office received notice the day after the Town Council denied the permit that two members of the church were planning to file a lawsuit against Fairview.
Lessner has been an outspoken opponent of the spire. After the Fairview Planning and Zoning Committee voted in May to recommend the Town Council reject the church’s proposal. the mayor said he would stand by the P&Z recommendation.
“I can only speak for myself. I will never approve that,” Lessner told KTVT-TV. “It is just grossly out of proportion to everything around there.”
What’s Next For Fairview LDS Temple
The Town of Fairview was incorporated in 1958 with a population of 50. Since that time, it has grown steadily to today’s population of a little more than 10,000.
Church officials said the building is needed because of a growing LDS population. They released the following statement after last week’s meeting.
“We are disappointed with tonight’s vote by the Fairview city council and express gratitude for the tireless efforts of those who worked to provide correct and positive information to the community about the temple project,” the statement reads.
A spokeswoman for the church added that they are evaluating options and could not provide any information about what steps are next, the Dallas Morning News reported. That was before the news of a lawsuit came to light.
The town motto is, “Keep it country,” so residents made T-shirts that read, “Keeping it country and not an inch more,” and wore them to an open house about the church project in May. The shirts they wore last week simply stated, “Fairview United.”
“We want them to get their church,” resident Inga Frederickson told CandysDirt.com in June. “They’re just not allowed to build it at the size they’re trying to build it.”
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The town hall is more attractive than the temple….
What would those LDS folks think if there were a proposal to build a huge MOSQUE, SYNAGOGUE, or CATHEDRAL in Fairview? Probably some version of, “Well, that’s different. We’re the TRUE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST.” As if other churches aren’t just as convinced that theirs is the “true one.” I think the “true church” is being the true bully here.
Shawn, interesting comment you make. While you make an negative assumptions about how LDS church members would behave being on the other side of the coin, a Mosque is actually being denied building in the next town over at the same time by the town council (not LDS members). Food for thought.
https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/mckinney-islamic-association-responds-to-opposition-over-mosque-19954224
Mesa, Arizona and Paris, France temples both lack spires. What a flimsy excuse for not being willing to compromise.
The real reason they don’t want to compromise on the spires is because LDS temples need to have a certain aesthetic that adds to the sense of awe/reverence that is a huge part of the worship that goes on inside. It sets the tone for the whole service. And it’s a wonderful experience if you are LDS, but there are other ways to cultivate that aesthetic. In this location maybe the church should consider some alternative ways to create that wow effect, maybe through landscaping/gardening or installing some sort of hedge or decorative wall around the premises making it feel separate from the rest of the world. But to say that the temple *MUST* be a certain way for religious reasons is ridiculous. And most importantly, the people living in the immediate area should be able to say they don’t want to have such a huge building right in their backyard, especially if it is a more rural area but that detail wasn’t clear to me. By its very nature it is an overwhelming building and would change the inherent character of a rural or less populated area.