A Utah judge has dismissed the lawsuit that sought to stop construction of the Heber Valley Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Fourth District Court Judge Jennifer A. Mabey gutted the lawsuit brought by four Wasatch County residents in a ruling issued late Wednesday.
The four men sued Wasatch County, alleging that the county council broke Utah and federal law when it enacted an ordinance in November 2023 to allow the temple’s construction.
Mabey granted a motion for summary judgment made by the church, which intervened in the lawsuit. The decision clears the way for construction of the temple in Heber City, barring an appeal.
Church spokesman Sam Penrod said the church welcomed the ruling.
“Since the temple site plan was approved by Wasatch County nearly two years ago, the church has paused moving forward with any construction, while the judicial system reviewed the public process,” he said. “Now the court has ruled that Wasatch County followed the law in approving the Heber Valley Temple, the church is looking forward to next steps in beginning construction.”
Bruce Van Dusen, Bruce Quade, Shawn Savarinos and Dominic Savarinos asked the court to determine whether the county council followed state and federal law when it enacted an ordinance for the construction of the Heber Valley Utah Temple.
In a hearing held June 2, Wasatch County argued the men didn’t have standing to sue, but Mabey ruled Wednesday that they did.
It was the only argument the men won. Mabey ruled for the county on every other issue.
They argued the council impermissibly engaged in spot zoning, but the court agreed with the church’s argument that the council didn’t rezone the land at all. Mabey ruled that the council used the existing zone, RA-1, which allows the council to grant a conditional use permit for construction of churches.
The petitioners also said the notices the council posted about the meetings where the ordinance for temple construction were considered didn’t sufficiently address the ramifications of the potential development.
The judge said the notices followed the law and provided sufficient explanations of what was considered at the meetings.
The judge also tossed aside an argument that the county acted impermissibly because the temple would be “akin to a limited club membership.”
“The court is hard-pressed to think of any church or business that serves 100% of the county’s population,” Mabey wrote in her decision, “yet it could still (be) reasonably debatable that it serves the general welfare of the community to have them present nonetheless.”
In fact, the county argued that the council’s decision to approve the temple promoted the general welfare in numerous ways, and the judge listed many of them in her ruling:
- The church will widen Center Street and install a roundabout.
- The church will set the temple back from the street by a distance significantly greater than required by code and provide more landscaping than is required.
- The temple site will help protect the area’s flood plane.
- The temple’s garden area will be open to the general public.
- The church agreed to reduce the temple’s lighting for the public good, making it possibly the dimmest temple in the world.
Mabey also rejected the petitioners’ argument that the church received preferential treatment from the county for religious reasons.
The men also argued that “the temple project will undoubtedly reduce property values for properties near the temple.”
Mabey summarily rejected that argument because she said the petitioners failed to show anything in the record to support that claim.
President Russell M. Nelson announced plans to build the temple during the October 2021 General Conference. The church announced the temple’s location in September 2022 and President Nelson dedicated the site at a groundbreaking ceremony in October 2022.
“We pray that the construction of this temple may be completed to accommodate thy divine purposes,” he said.
Save Wasatch Back Dark Skies attempted to reverse the Wasatch County Council’s unanimous approval of the temple by adding a referendum to the 2024 general election ballot. The effort required 3,235 signatures but fell 25% short of that number.
The temple project combines two lots for a total of 18.17 acres. It will have a footprint of 26,089 square feet, but because it has three floors, the temple will have a total of 87,626 square feet.