- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints submitted an application to build a smaller temple in Fairview, Texas.
- The church and town leaders had agreed on the smaller size in mediation in November, but Fairview officials later balked.
- The proposal now goes to the Fairview Planning and Zoning Commission. A hearing date has not been set.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has filed a new application for a conditional use permit to build a smaller McKinney Texas Temple in Fairview, Texas.
Fairview’s zoning commission and city council rejected the church’s original application to build a larger temple in separate votes last summer.
The two sides had negotiated an agreement for the smaller temple in November, but the church decided not to submit a new application when Mayor Henry Lessner and the town council indicated they would seek additional concessions by the church.
“Recently, the mayor has again expressed his support and belief that the Town Council will stand by its word,” local church spokeswoman Melissa McKneely said in a statement released Tuesday.
“The church is grateful for this assurance and today has filed a new application consistent with the agreement. We look forward to continuing our association with the community as good neighbors and friends.”
Lessner confirmed Fairview officials received the church’s application Tuesday afternoon.
“The building design that was submitted yesterday appears similar in size to the building design that was part of the mediation back in November 2024,” Lessner said in a statement provided to the Deseret News. “Our staff has just starting looking at what was submitted. I really haven’t seen any of it other than a picture of the new design.
“We appreciate the church taking this route as opposed to going through the legal system.”
The Fairview Town Planning and Zoning Commission will review the application and vote on it in a future meeting. The date of that meeting has not been set, said Karin Anderson, the town’s communications and marketing manager.
The town council will review the application after the planning and zoning commission, she said.
The new application seeks a conditional use permit to build the temple in a residential area. Conditional use permits are the normal tool used by churches and governments to provide space for houses of worship in residential areas.
The church has applied to build the temple on Stacey Road, a four-lane state highway, in a section colloquially known as Church Row.
Today, Church Row includes Sloan Creek Campus of the Chase Oaks Christian Church and a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse. The temple and the Twin Creeks Church of Christ are also planned for that section of the road.
The initial Latter-day Saint proposal was for a medium-sized, two-story temple of 44,000 square feet on 8 acres. The plans called for the temple to be 65 feet tall with a 108-foot steeple for a total height of 173 feet.
After the town rejected that application, the two sides agreed to mediation. They emerged with an agreement for a smaller temple — one story of approximately 30,000 square feet with a main height of 45 feet and a steeple height of 120 feet.
Soon after the sides announced the agreement, it appeared that Fairview leaders would call for more concessions. 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.
Last week, the local Latter-day Saint leader, Allen Texas Stake President Daniel Trythall sent a letter to Fairview officials requesting a positive outcome based on the mediated agreement.
McKneely, the local church spokeswoman, said the church’s leadership and membership want to cooperate with Fairview’s leaders and residents.
“In building sacred temples, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints always seeks to cooperate with communities while exercising its fundamental rights of worship,” she said in her statement.