After yearlong battle, Fairview approves permit for controversial LDS temple

A yearlong battle over a proposed temple in Fairview has come to an end.

Town leaders gave the green light early Wednesday morning for a new temple by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to move forward, but not without hesitation.

After hours of public comment, heated debate, and a moment in executive session, council approved the project in a 5-2 vote around midnight.

The temple will be built on an 8.1-acre piece of property on Stacy Road near Meandering Way.

The special meeting on Tuesday began at 7 p.m. At least 43 people were signed up to speak in favor of and against the proposal.

The church proposed to build a 30,000-square-foot temple next to an existing chapel, citing the need to accommodate a growing congregation. Temples are used for sacred ceremonies like baptisms and marriages. Chapels are used for Sunday worship services and youth groups.

“It is needed because we have outgrown our current temple,” said Melissa McKneely, spokesperson for the Fairview Texas Temple.

Tuesday’s meeting was to decide on a request for approval of a conditional use permit for the religious facility.

The meeting comes after a year-long battle between the town and the LDS Church, which entered into mediation earlier this year. Much of the controversy had to do with the height of a steeple in the building's design, which was originally planned to be 174 feet -- or 11 stories -- tall.

Residents against the design say the tall spire and building size within a residential zone clashes with Fairview’s small-town character.

"Many of us agree that such an enormous glowing structure belongs in a commercial zone, not built on the crest of a hill that serves to magnify its height in a residential area," said resident Helen Dunham in Tuesday night's public comment.

Last week, the planning and zoning commission recommended the spire be lowered to the city's threshold of 68 feet.

Adjustments were made but the church still wanted the spire to be higher, with the council approving a height that meets in the middle at 120 feet.

“We are happy with what we've put forth. We feel like it's a fair compromise,” said McKneely.

The church says it has made many major concessions, like shrinking the size of the proposed building and the height of the steeple, a sticking point at the special meeting on Tuesday night.

The church says it has agreed to reduce the steeple’s height from 173 to 120 feet. But Fairview Mayor Henry Lessner argued the height should stand at 70 feet.

“The spire is a religious symbol to us. It’s very important for us to have a spire,” said McKneely.

Neighbors opposed to the temple wore green to the meeting and said it’s not about religion, but preserving city zoning laws.

“It’s there for a reason: to protect the residents, and that's why we are fighting this fight,” said Dunham.

The church spokesperson says a 120-foot-tall steeple is the shortest they are willing to go and that if the council doesn’t agree to that, there may be a need to take legal action. The mayor cited this as a reason he felt he needed to approve the project, as a way to prevent the need for legal proceedings.

“It’s not what we wanted,” Mayor Lessner said after he voted in favor of the permit. “But the threat of a lawsuit and our fiduciary duty to the town, five of us figure we don’t have any choice but to go forward with this.”

Another sticking point has been the name of the temple. It was initially called the McKinney Texas Temple, but church leadership agreed earlier this week to call it the Fairview Texas Temple.

Now that it's approved, this will be the eighth temple built in Texas and the third in North Texas, according to the LDS Church.