Mormon Church is Suing Fairview Over ‘Religious Right’ to Build Tall Temple on Stacy Road 

Representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said they’d sue when the town of Fairview denied their permit to build a 173-foot-tall temple. Late last month, the church appeared to make good on its promise, filing a “notice of intent” to file a lawsuit. 

At the time of the permit denial in August, CandysDirt.com reported that more than 70 people spoke against the proposal for a “McKinney Texas Temple” on an eight-acre site next to an existing LDS meeting house. Fairview’s zoning restrictions for the Stacy Road lot allow a maximum height of 35 feet. 

Fairview Council Denies Permit For 173-Foot Temple Spire, Church Members Threaten Legal Action

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. Residents applauded the Town Council’s decision to deny the permit, and the following day, representatives of the Mormon church threatened legal action. 

Dallas-based attorney Eric Pinker filed the notice of intent to file suit on Jan. 27, according to the Dallas Morning News, citing the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The church said the town violated the church’s rights to free exercise of religion and nondiscrimination in land use regulation.

“While it continues to be the Church’s hope that this matter can be worked out amicably, in the face of continued and unreasonable opposition, it appears the Church has no choice but to defend its rights in court,” the letter states, per the Dallas Morning News. 

Substantial Burden 

Residents who live near the site on the north side of Stacy Road west of Meandering Way say they don’t mind having a Mormon place of worship in their neighborhood. They claim the building height and incompatibility with single-family neighborhoods impose a “substantial burden.” 

“It’s way out of compliance and would be just massive for a residential area,” Fairview resident Karla Gant told CandysDirt.com.  

The DMN reported last month that after the Fairview Town Council rejected the 174-foot-tall design in August, church and town leaders came to a nonbinding settlement in November to enter mediation in an attempt to avoid a legal battle. At that time, the Town Council announced a legal defense fund “to protect the town from potential litigation from the church.” 

The church made a “roughly 54-foot concession in the temple’s height and reduced the size by about 13,000 square feet.” And while the church intended to file a new application Jan. 13 for a single-story building nearly 30,000 square feet with a 120-foot steeple height, they didn’t end up doing that because they did not believe the opposition would agree to it, according to reports. 

Mayor Henry Lessner was outspoken in his opposition to the project last summer but has expressed disappointment recently that the church is planning to sue rather than submit the compromise proposal.

Lessner and the Town Council unanimously approved the compromise proposal and sent it to the public for discussion. So if the church submits the revised plan, there’s a chance it would pass. 

What’s Next

Members of Fairview United, a community group opposed to the temple construction, told the Dallas Morning News in a follow-up story published Thursday that they want the Town Council to remain firm in its stance of protecting neighborhoods even as the lawsuit proceeds. 

A letter from Fairview United member Marlo Ballard is quoted in the news report, stating, “We would love a temple, but it needs to blend in harmoniously with our small town, and not be a structure that dominates the landscape and changes the character of Fairview.”

A date for a court hearing has not been announced and Fairview officials say the “ball is in their court,” urging church leaders to submit their new plan rather than pursuing legal action.