Fairview Says No to Gigantic, Large and Spacious Mormon Temple and Steeple

In October of 2022, Russell M. Nelson announced a temple in Texas in the town of Prosper during General Conference. Prosper is north of Dallas, where the church already has an established Temple. Prosper is only about 30 miles north of the existing Dallas Temple.

Prosper, Texas

The city of Prosper is located within the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area in North Texas. Texas is home to more than 370,000 Latter-day Saints in 737 congregations. Missionary work in Texas began in 1843 during the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Prosper Texas Temple will be the state’s eighth temple. The other seven temples in Texas include the Austin Texas Temple, Dallas Texas Temple, Fort Worth Texas Temple, Houston Texas Temple, Lubbock Texas Temple, San Antonio Texas Temple and McAllen Texas Temple.

President Nelson, Church Newsroom: The Church of Jesus Christ Will Build 18 New Houses of the Lord
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/october-2022-general-conference-new-temples

Then, in December 2023 the church announced a change to the temple site and a name change. The plans had moved from Prosper to the adjacent town of McKinney. McKinney is less than 25 miles from the Dallas Temple.

Zoning Issues

The church purchased land and submitted plans for the temple. However, the proposed temple did not follow the local zoning laws. This is not new, the church has been building temples larger than allowed and has muscled approvals through the local governments. In McKinnney Fairview however, the town council denied the temple plans as is. The church pushed the matter claiming their religious freedom was being challenged. Church attorneys developed a “steeple doctrine” which states the doctrine requires a temple steeple to be very tall, even if the zoning laws prohibit construction at such heights. This is a bogus claim and is easily proven by the numerous temples with no steeple at all (see temples in Cardston, Alberta, Canada, Hawaii, or Mesa, Arizona) (and see the Hong Kong Temple which used to have a steeple but was removed during renovations).

Scripted Support for the Temple

The church went as far as to send a letter from the Area Authority, Elder Jonathan Cannon, to all members in the area asking them to send letters stating that the Temple was needed and that the steeple specifically needed to be included. The letter claims that “The height of the steeple is part of our Religious Observance.”

They solicit members to send specific support for a steeple, while simultaneously stating that they “don’t want these scripted” and not to “copy and paste these exact words and phrases in your message.” It sounds like someone trying to get away with copying answers to a test without it being obvious.

Here’s the letter:

We have been asked by Elder Jonathan Cannon, our local Area Seventy, and the Area Communications Committee, to send the attached letter to members of our stake.

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Brothers and Sisters,

We’ve been asked to help support the approval of the plan to build the McKinney Texas Temple in Fairview Texas by writing emails of support. We need the voting body to hear many voices of support with personal reasons why you want this temple here in our community. It doesn’t have to be long. Brief is actually better. Be sincere and share from the heart. We don’t want these scripted.

We would invite you to email Planning Manager ___ in the following pattern:

1. Subject line: “Resident in support” (for those who live in Fairview) or “Neighbor in support” for those who live in a nearby town who are in the temple district.
2. In your email you could answer a couple of the following questions:
   • Why you’re excited for and support a temple in Fairview and what it will mean to you personally and allow you to worship God/practice your faith
   • How houses of worship in a community benefit the whole community
   • How the Temple helps those who attend to be better people, and improve their lives, and therefore improve the community/how it will bless your family

While we want you to express your feelings in your own words some key concepts would be helpful to the approval process. A key message needs to be on the importance of the temple and how it allows you to worship as you choose, to practice your faith, and that the building itself is a symbol of your faith (including the steeple if you feel to be specific in that regard).

The height of the steeple is part of our Religious Observance. The steeple is the temple’s most distinctive architectural feature and serves no other purpose than to send a religious message. Steeples point toward heaven and serve the purpose of lifting our eyes and thoughts toward heaven. The steeple expresses a message of faith and devotion to God.

Please do not copy and paste these exact words and phrases in your messages. Please use your own as you prayerfully feel impressed to do so!

At this time, the project will come for a vote by the Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday May 9th. We also would like to invite you to consider including the temple and the Fairview Town leaders and residents in your fast this Sunday and on May 5th.

Thank you for your willingness to help prepare our community for another House of the Lord. Tremendous blessings will come to us and our neighbors through our temple worship.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact __

Elder Jonathan Cannon, Area Seventy, and the Area Communications Committee
https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/1c9qdfi/leak_the_church_is_asking_members_to_contact_the/

Many members followed orders and flooded the town council and planners with messages supporting the Temple. Those opposed also voiced their dissent, and the town was thrown into the spotlight. They held multiple meetings to discuss, and the church would not budge on requiring their proposed plan to be followed. The church attorneys continued to threaten to sue the town if they didn’t get their way.

Fairview Town Council

The proposed temple property is zoned by the adjacent town of Fairview. There is zoning in place in this residential area limiting buildings to 35ft maximum. The problem is the proposed temple plan has the temple at 174ft (including the steeple). The town council has tried to work with the church on adjusting the plan so it will work with the zoning requirements, but the church insists it deserves an exception to the rule.

The town council met again and the Mayor, Henry Lessner, clearly outlined that the proposed temple did not meet the zoning requirements. He didn’t mince words and stated that the Temple would be completely out of place if built in this residentially zoned area. He was poignant enough to even remark that the vast majority of those in support of this temple, are not even local to Fairview.

The mayor addressed the residents of Fairview and the broader community, regarding the zoning issue related to the proposed construction of an LDS temple in a residential area. He emphasized that the issue is about zoning, not religion, and highlights the strong local opposition to the temple’s size and location. He described the residential nature of the east side of Fairview, where the temple is planned, and contrasts it with the commercial west side. The proposed temple, at 65 feet tall with a 109-foot spire, far exceeds the area’s 35-foot height limit and would be out of scale with the surrounding homes.

Mayor Henry Lessner criticized the LDS Corporation for its approach, accusing it of arrogance for threatening legal action if the project is not approved. He expressed disappointment in local LDS leaders for supporting the project, which has been so disruptive to the community. His remarks conclude by urging LDS members to consider the impact of such a large building in a residential area and to reflect on the legacy of their actions. He calls for the temple to be built in a more appropriate commercial zone and asks LDS members to oppose the misuse of wealth to influence small communities.

I have some remarks, I’m going to read. And this is to educate folks on both sides of this issue. Have a little bit of an opinion on some of the things you’ve heard.

So first of all, I thought I want to address the hundreds of Fairview residents who have studied and researched data related to the LDS history of template building. You’ve kept your focus on the issue at hand. This is a zoning issue. Not an issue related to anything to do with the LDS Corporation. Thank you for your signs of strong support as the council works through this issue. I also want to thank those in our surrounding cities, as well as groups and individuals around the country, and around the world, and current and former LDS members who have stated their support for the town of Fairview’s position on this matter. The issue or revising our zoning ordinance for this proposed building is the biggest crisis that has ever impacted our town. I personally have heard from Fairview folks in every corner of our town, encouraging me, and the council to resist this intrusion into the residential area of our town.

Now, I want to address the thousands, potentially, I don’t know how many people are outside, but I know there were thousands last time, of LDS folks who are here, somewhere in the vicinity of this meeting or listening online. First, welcome to Fairview. This is a great place. Keep hydrated tonight. It’s very hot out there. So we’re worried about you we went to extraordinary measures tonight to try to ensure the safety of people and get as many people in this room and get as many, everybody, by the way, Richard, will get a chance who’s here to talk. A little bit about our town that you may or may not know, as many of the folks supporting the LDS position are not from Fairview, matter of fact the vast majority are not!

The East side of our town is all residential with large homes on large lots. You hear about zoning RE-1. What does that mean? That means residential estate, one acre. We have RE-1, RE-1.5, RE-2, and then areas over further east are even less dense than that, four acres, six acres. The maximum home height in this area allowed is 35 feet. And we hold people to do that. We have families with Longhorns, Alpacas, horse farms and donkeys, all over town. There is no sewer system or storm drain system in that part of town. I’m talking about the east side of town, on the east side of Greenville out here. There are no businesses, there’s no multi-family dwellings. And you’ve heard us talk about our Dark Skies. We take pride in that. As a matter of fact, just last weekend the star party was held in our town. You can actually see the stars in our town. It’s important to us. Zoning is tightly enforced. And all building is looked at closely to make sure that it will not have a negative effect on the neighbors. The objective is to maintain the country feel on that side of town that our residents moved to Fairview for.

Now, that’s the east side of town the residential side, where this Temple is proposed to be built. On the west side, the side of town that you’re sitting in right now. This is our commercial area where we have single and multi-family dwellings, shopping, restaurants, hotels. We actually have some corporate offices recently. There is nothing new about the way our town is zoned. It was done this way intentionally. And it’s been this way for decades, maybe 70 years. So, this is not something that we just came up with yesterday. This is the way that town was laid out. It’s why people move here, to keep the country feeling outside of town.

So, if you are here at the meeting, I have a request. I would ask you to walk about 50 yards about that way. Go north of the building we’re in to the steps of Fairview Town Hall, which is in our commercial area. Look up at that town hall. It is 65 feet tall, coincidentally, same as what the Temple is proposed to be. It contains 22,000 square feet of office space. The building that your leaders from Salt Lake City are proposing is 65ft tall and about 45,000 square feet. Surrounded by gleaming white marble and topped by a 109ft spire. The proposed temple building itself is literally twice as large as our town hall. And then you stick to 109 foot spire on top. It takes it up to 174 feet, which is taller than our water towers.

This proposed gigantic building is to be located in the residential side of town, Eastside. Where the maximum allowable height, again, is 35ft. Every home over there, conforms with this. You can actually get a drone and find homes that have flat roots because of this limitation, we enforce it. At this location, this proposed building would be so out of scale, so out of place that it would look like some alien civilization has dropped it onto that property. I’m sorry if you don’t like that, but that’s what it looks like. It is the Crux. This is the Crux of our Zoning problem. It is hard to imagine how, an architect or site planner or a simple casual observer could not see how out of place that building would be, given the RE-1 zoning.

Now, again for the LDS folks listening, this is kind of our side of what you heard a little bit ago. Your representative’s position with our residents from the very start has been if you don’t like this, if you don’t approve this building, as is, we will sue you. Y’all remember the second information center, many of you people that are in this room were there.

Your local LDS leaders, I’m talking to the LDS folks in the room, have taken a position that if our residents don’t like the proposed gigantic building, then move. An LDS family would be more than happy pay a “premium” for your property to live so close to a temple. People who moved to Fairview, they raised their families here and they tend to stay, so we had very long-term residents in this community. Who, you know, we have new new developments coming in but when people get here, they tend to stay. This is why we are pushing so hard and why they are pushing so hard against this proposed building. Your attorneys from Salt Lake City are very smooth. Calmly starting our conversation with the fact that they’ve dealt with municipalities many, many times, if y’all remember that conversation, and essentially, have forced these communities to take an unwanted large building. What a thing to be proud of.

Their message to us, who’s fighting this gigantic building proposed for Fairview is really a waste of our time, and you’ve heard that tonight. I think the word for this attitude is extreme arrogance. It’s what we, in Fairview, will remember about the LDS Representatives. I will also add shame on the local leaders for stabbing our town in the back. They knew exactly what the impact this building would have on our town. And obviously don’t give a flip, which is really disappointing. There’s no secret what the town of Fairview would have done with this or how we would have reacted. And if somebody didn’t tell the folks in Salt Lake City, shame on y’all.

Fairview has eight religious buildings in a small town. One of which is the LDS meeting house. The town and its residents have had no issues with any of them. In fact, the current LDS meeting house is the tallest building, at 68ft, in our residential zone. We have offered a CUP (Conditional Use Permit), for the proposed building that includes a 42ft maximum building height, which, by the way, is the height that the Chase Oaks church, with the spire going up to 68ft, with 42 percent impervious coverage of the property.

The size of the Dallas Temple, which most of us have been to see multiple times, is close to what might work for Fairview and our residential zone. We have suggested that. We have also suggested that if for some reason this building must be built in Fairview, which we’re not sure why, but for the LDS corporate folks, in Salt Lake City to save face, this large building, as is, would probably fit into the commercial zone with few issues. That’s on this side of town.

So, I ask the LDS folks listening tonight to join with the numerous LDS groups around the country that are protesting the use of LDS’s organization great wealth to target smaller communities. This is happening all over the country right now. Sometimes threatening to bankrupt the town. That has happened. To try to force zoning changes, so they can erect gigantic buildings in residential zones.

Most of those churches that are these pictures are in commercial, by the way, they’re not in residential neighborhoods. If the town of Fairview and its residents are somehow forced to accept this misplace gigantic building, thousands of folks from this area passing by that building every day, will only see and remember the legacy of the LDS arrogance. I suspect that is not the legacy that you want to leave with.

So I ask one more time please. If you’re here from the LDS community, please walk about 50 yards up, to our town hall. Take a look at that building. Double the size and put 109 foot spire on top. That is what the issue is. The building is way too big, way out of place for that location. We’ve given options of what could be done. I think they’re reasonable options. End of my speech. Thank you.

Mayor Henry Lessner, Town of Fairview, Town Council – Aug 6, 2024 55:30
https://fairviewtexas.org/government/agendas-and-minutes.html

Kudos to the Mayor for standing up to the juggernaut Mormon church and their pushy lawyers and brainwashed members who are claiming they are the ones being persecuted when in fact, it’s the church being a bully here and all around the country. The town council voted and unanimously denied the temple, not because of religious persecution, but because the proposed plan did not meet the zoning requirements of the area. They reiterated that the temple is welcome in town, but not at its proposed height. The lawyers may challenge the town and file a lawsuit claiming the temple size is part of religious observance. The church doctrines won’t be on trial, but there is no proof to support the outlandish claim. There is proof however that supports the vote of Fairview which shows that a steeple is not a temple requirement, nor is the gigantic size. There are multiple temples with no spire, and there are multiple temples much smaller than the proposed temple. In fact, an example of a smaller temple is the Dallas Temple just 25 miles away, as the Mayor mentioned in his remarks, would come much closer to meeting the zoning requirements.

Is temple architecture, steeples, or statues party of Mormon religious observance?

Though the Area Authorities stated in the email urging members to support the temple that “the height of the steeple is part of our religious observance,” there are even statements from current church leaders that, in concept, support the decision of Fairview. They may claim these quotes are not in context, but they do feel much more aligned with the idea of a smaller temple and flexibility in the temple building architecture and steeple size. Points the church has yet to budge on in the proposed McKinney temple.

We routinely talk about the temple. I don’t think we talk nearly as much about the covenants and ordinances. I don’t think we should even talk about the covenants and ordinances separate from and apart from the savior. So if we get the sequence of the savior we’re connected to him through the covenants and ordinances and the place where we receive the covenants and ordinances is in the house of the Lord. I just think that’s a better way for us to focus on what matters most, which is the Father’s plan and the role of Jesus Christ in the father’s plan.

I hear people say, oh that’s a small Temple. There is no such thing as a small temple — they are just temples. There’s no such thing as small covenants or small ordinances. That, to me, reflects this fixation on it’s the building. Who cares what the size is, if you have access to the same covenants and ordinances whereby we have a covenant connection with the father and the son. The mechanics of what takes place in the temple is not what matters, it’s why we do what we do in the temple, which always goes back to the father’s plan and the saviors atoning sacrifice.

David A. Bednar, No Small Temples
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2023/4/27/23700944/video-why-elder-bednar-no-small-temples/

While the Angel Moroni statue occupies a prominent place on many temples throughout the world—symbolizing the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ—it is not a requirement of temple design. Some temples may include the statue, while others may not.

A temple’s design, both internal and external, is secondary to its primary purpose, which is for people to draw closer to God and His Son, Jesus Christ by participating in sacred ceremonies that teach of God’s plan and unite families forever.

Additional Resource: Angel Moroni Statues on Temples
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/angel-moroni-statues-on-temples

We’re so blessed to have temples. We’ll have increasing numbers of temples as the Church grows. But it’s not the number, and it’s not the location. It’s not the architecture. It’s the ordinances inside.

When you look at a temple, you should realize it is a symbol of Jesus Christ, as He is our Mediator with the Father. Only by Him and through Him can we reach our Heavenly Father. It is also a sign of our faith in life after death, and each temple stands as a step, a sacred step to eternal life for us and our families.

President Russell M. Nelson, Church News, August 19, 2022
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=789111622274861
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2023/01/nzl-eng-local-pages/local-news-001

Many will be surprised if the church adjusts its proposal, even though that is in line with recent church leadership. Likely the church will not do anything short of filing to sue the small town. They may need to create something akin to the Proclamation to the World about Temple Steeples for all we know! That’s the whole point of continual revelation though, we follow the prophet, meaning we follow the whims of the 99-year-old geriatric leadership.

• https://fairviewtexas.org/government/agendas-and-minutes.html
• https://www.mormonishpodcast.org/episode/town-meeting
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NVELga8ZeQ
• https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2024/05/17/its-created-lot-division-how-lds/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/1c9qdfi/leak_the_church_is_asking_members_to_contact_the/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/1em36y4/fairview_tx_town_council_unanimously_denied_lds/
• https://zelophehadsdaughters.com/2024/06/14/the-proclamation-on-the-steeple/
• https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/089-39-48.pdf