A north Texas leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent a letter to Fairview Mayor Henry Lessner and town council members on Monday asking them to reaffirm their commitment to allow the church to build the McKinney Texas Temple in Fairview.
“We value our relationship with the community and are eager to work together for a positive outcome to this project and our long-term relationship as friends and neighbors,” Allen Texas Stake President Daniel M. Trythall wrote in the letter, which was posted on a church website.
In November, the church and the town council negotiated a non-binding agreement in mediation that would allow the church to build a smaller temple than the one it proposed originally. Days later, under pressure from some residents, Lessner announced the mediated height for the temple was still too tall.
Trythall’s letter arrived before an important date looming next week. The church sent Fairview a notice on Jan. 27 that served officially as an intent to sue. It triggered a 60-day period after which the church can seek a solution through the courts.
Trythall stated there was still a way forward without seeking a legal remedy.
“We respectfully invite the Town to reaffirm the commitments it made during the mediation process, which previously the Town Council unanimously voted to support,” he wrote. “Upholding the agreement is an essential reassurance that would make it unnecessary for us to seek judicial assistance to resolve this impasse.”
The 60 days toll on March 28, almost a year to the day that the U.S. Department of Justice sent an official letter to state, county and municipal officials across the nation in March 2024 to remind them that federal law “prohibits governments from imposing or implementing land use regulations that ‘unreasonably limit’ religious assemblies, institutions or structures within a jurisdiction.”
The letter noted that, “While zoning is primarily a local matter, where it conflicts with federal civil rights laws such as the Fair Housing Act or RLUIPA, federal law takes precedence.”
The Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act says a court action cannot be brought unless written notice is provided to a government agency by certified mail 60 days before bringing a lawsuit. Any suit also must be filed within one year after the church learned a substantial burden had been placed on its religious freedom.
The church’s Jan. 27 letter included a notice to the town that it had outlined the burdens placed on the church by Fairview’s decision to deny the building permit for the temple in letters in July and August of 2024.
The church contends that the town’s denial of its application to construct a house of worship imposes a substantial burden on the church’s religious exercise “without a compelling governmental interest and in a manner that is not the least restrictive means of furthering the town’s interest.”
The church originally proposed a two-story temple of 44,000 square feet with a main height of 65 feet. The steeple was to reach to a total of 173 feet.
After mediation, the two sides agreed the temple would be reduced to one story of approximately 30,000 square feet with a main height of 45 feet and a steeple height of 120 feet. A church representative characterized the concessions as significant and said the Town Council had indicated they fully addressed its previous concerns.
Members of Fairview United, a citizens group, have said they oppose a steeple taller than 68 feet, which is the height of the Latter-day Saint meetinghouse on the proposed temple site. The Dallas Morning News reported that is the tallest religious building in the town.
The site is in a residential zone. The town’s zoning laws restrict buildings in residential zones to a maximum height of 35 but allows exemptions for churches with a conditional use permit. The Fairview Planning and Zoning Council rejected the church’s application for a permit in May 2024. The Town Council rejected it in August.
Lessner did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Monday afternoon. Fairview Town Manager Julie Couch confirmed the town received Trythall’s letter.
Lessner has said previously what the town wants to maintain “to protect our environment and character of our town.”
The church prepared a revised application based on the mediation settlement. A church official said the intended to file it by a Jan. 13 deadline set in the mediation agreement, but public statements by Lessner and discussions between church and town representatives raised concerns the town would not honor the settlement.
The church contends that the temple’s size in both proposals meets Fairview’s zoning regulations for conditional use permits. Houses of worship and schools typically are approved in residential American neighborhoods to serve people living nearby.
“It is important to clarify misinformation that may have circulated about this process,” Trythall wrote Monday. “It is disheartening to face mischaracterizations of our proposed temple as against the law, when it is entirely appropriate under local law and fully protected by both federal and state laws that protect religious rights in the United States of America.
“Our intention has always been to collaborate openly at every stage of this process,” he continued. “Despite our sincere efforts to avoid conflict, we must stand firm against any actions that would impede the rights of members of our church — or any church — to worship freely as protected by the laws of the land.”
President Russell M. Nelson announced plans for a temple in Prosper, Texas, in October 2022. The church announced the location would be in Fairview in December 2023.
“The temple is the house of the Lord. The basis for every temple ordinance and covenant … is the Atonement of Jesus Christ,” President Nelson said in a quote posted on the church’s website for the temple. “Every activity, every lesson, all we do in the church, point to the Lord and his holy house.”
“It has been almost one year since the LDS Church surprised our community with their plan to build a gigantic building on the residential side of our town,” Lessner wrote in his statement. “I am ready to travel to Salt Lake to meet with someone who is a decision maker in the LDS hierarchy to see if we can come to a common understanding that will avoid a lawsuit.”
Monday’s full letter
Dear Mayor Lessner and Fairview Town Council Members:
I write this letter on behalf of the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to discuss the proposed temple project in Fairview. We value our relationship with the community and are eager to work together for a positive outcome to this project and our long-term relationship as friends and neighbors.
Temples are sacred to us. They are the Houses of the Lord, sanctuaries where we commune quietly with Him, unite families for eternity, and experience hope and peace. Each of the 376 temples around the world embodies this faith. We also deeply cherish our connection with the communities where temples are located. Local members of the Church are an integral part of the Fairview community and the surrounding areas. We appreciate the vision for development that preserves Fairview’s unique character. We hope to support such an approach and want to reassure residents that the temple will be a beautiful and peaceful place that enhances the neighborhood in alignment with the long-term vision for the area.
The chosen 8.1-acre site is well-positioned among existing religious buildings along a busy commercial road, allowing for beautiful landscaping that will enhance and beautify the surroundings. We’re committed to not only meeting but exceeding local standards whenever reasonably possible.
However, it is troubling that members of the Town Council seem to have already withdrawn their support from the agreement made during the recent mediation. When the Church sought to engage with council members individually to discuss their commitment to this compromise, we were met with refusal. While we continue to believe that the Town’s denial of the current application substantially burdens the practice and expression of religious beliefs for the Church, we would still be prepared to shoulder that burden and file our application for the smaller temple. Before filing an application for a smaller temple, we ask only for assurance that the Town would live up to the original obligations it made during mediation. We remain concerned, however, that our religious rights could be compromised if the Town does not honor its word as agreed to during mediation. We entered mediation with hopes for a respectful and expedient solution that advanced everyone’s goals. That remains our hope.
It is important to clarify misinformation that may have circulated about this process. It is disheartening to face mischaracterizations of our proposed temple as against the law, when it is entirely appropriate under local law and fully protected by both federal and state laws that protect religious rights in the United States of America. Our intention has always been to collaborate openly at every stage of this process. Despite our sincere efforts to avoid conflict, we must stand firm against any actions that would impede the rights of members of our Church - or any Church - to worship freely as protected by the laws of the land.
There is a way forward. We respectfully invite the Town to reaffirm the commitments it made during the mediation process, which previously the Town Council unanimously voted to support. Upholding the agreement is an essential reassurance that would make it unnecessary for us to seek judicial assistance to resolve this impasse.
Thank you for your consideration. We consider ourselves part of the Fairview community and share this information in a spirit of transparency and friendship. We hope to find a mutually acceptable solution that honors Fairview’s future and the sacred role of the planned temple on this beautiful site. We hope you will engage with Fairview residents who want this temple and who share a love both for their faith and their local community.
Sincerely,
President Daniel M. Trythall
Allen Texas Stake
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints