SALT LAKE CITY — Latter-day Saint leaders are withdrawing their plan to build a residential community around the proposed Tooele Valley Utah Temple, according to a statement issued Tuesday.
“We acknowledge the efforts of those who have raised questions and sincere concerns about the Tooele Valley temple project, including the residential development surrounding the temple. There is a sincere desire on the part of the church to avoid discord in the community,” the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a statement.
“Therefore, regardless of the outcome of a pending signature-gathering effort, we have determined to withdraw our rezoning request for the residential portion of the temple project.”
The Tooele County Commission voted 2-1 to rezone the land for the temple and the church’s proposed residential community around it. However, some residents raised concerns about the density of the housing in the proposal. They launched a petition that would require the issue to be decided by a referendum which could not be held before next June.
Monday was the deadline for signatures to be added or withdrawn from the petition. The Tooele County clerk has not certified the results, but her unofficial count on Tuesday morning showed the petition had enough support to trigger the referendum if all the signatures were legitimate.
The First Presidency’s statement did not specify whether the church would try to resubmit a new plan for the residential community in the future.
“We look forward to working with local officials and community members to determine next steps to move forward with the construction of the temple,” the First Presidency’s statement said. “We hope those from all viewpoints on this matter will treat one another with kindness, civility and Christlike love.”
The church wants to build the temple on a church farm northwest of the intersection at Erda Way and state Route 36, an unincorporated part of Tooele County.
The farm sits on the valley floor in a rural area where the minimum lot size for a home is 1 acre and and many are on 5 acres. The church proposed building a community of 446 homes on 167 acres. That density of 2.66 homes per acre was lower than the growth anticipated in the area by the county’s general plan but higher than wanted by some residents who want to maintain the area’s rural feel.
The petition needed signatures from 9.5% of voters in four of the county’s five council districts to trigger a referendum.
As of Tuesday morning, after Tooele County Clerk Marilyn Gillette counted the signature removal requests received Monday, outcome was close, pending certification. It appeared the referendum would be triggered by 13 votes, barring the possibly that some signatures might be disqualified during certification.
The petition movement easily had enough signatures in Districts 2, 3 and 4 but was short by 29 signatures in District 1. It appeared the matter would come down to District 5.
Early Tuesday morning, Gillette reported that District 5 had reached the referendum threshold by 50 votes without counting signature removal forms received on Monday.
Later, she reported those forms showed that 37 people had removed their signatures in District 5, meaning the referendum would be triggered by 13 votes, pending certification.
In all, 72 residents removed their names from the petition on Monday.