LDS Church says it won’t shorten temple after Fairview mayor’s plea

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will not reduce the height of its temple under construction in Fairview after the town’s mayor again asked the church to reconsider its contested steeple. 

A bitter fight steeped in arguments over zoning rules and religious freedom has mired the town and church in disagreement for years. Some town leaders and residents say the temple’s size, which in 2024 was planned to rise more than 170 feet, is out of character for Fairview, which claims a small-town identity in Collin County, 30 miles north of Dallas.

After a denied permit, threats of a lawsuit, mediation, an approved permit for a 120-foot-tall structure and a lawsuit from residents, construction began on the temple in February.

“In a good faith effort at reasonable compromise, the church has already made very significant concessions,” wrote church elder Steven Bangerter in response to the mayor’s recent request to reduce the steeple height. “We ask the town to honor its commitments and support the approved design.”

Reducing the size of the temple is also not possible, Bangerter said, “due to the worship needs of our members.” Some church members say another temple is needed to accommodate a large congregation in the region, and that the church has a religious right to build the temple as it sees fit. 

There is currently one temple operating in Dallas that struggles to meet demand, leaders said, and another under construction near Fort Worth. 

A year after a permit for the 120-foot-tall temple was approved, Mayor John Hubbard asked the church to volunteer to reduce the height, writing in a May 1 letter there remains “a consistent concern” about the height and scale of the temple and whether it will fit “harmoniously within the character of Fairview.”

In response on May 20, Bangerter, a church executive director based in Utah, wrote that stopping construction and seeking a new design would be “extremely costly and cause much delay.”

Hubbard said he was disappointed by Bangerter’s letter that stated the church “is unable to agree” to his recent proposal. In response, Hubbard questioned if the 120-foot steeple is necessary for worship purposes, citing a 70-foot steeple on a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple in Yorba Linda, Calif., and a temple with no steeple in Vienna, Austria.

Related: Fairview leaders again plead with Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for smaller temple

“These are not old designs,” Hubbard wrote in a letter responding to Bangerter. “They are current expressions of the Church’s architectural vision, and they suggest that the prior testimony about necessity deserves a second look.”

Hubbard said while the temple’s permit was approved, the Town Council was not happy with the outcome. But in a more conservative court system, he said leaders worried what fighting a lawsuit over religious freedom would mean for the town. 

“They felt like they had no other choice,” he said.

Hubbard asked again if the church would lower the steeple from 120 feet to 100 feet tall as “a voluntary act of goodwill,” not to relitigate or re-enter the permit approval process. At 120 feet, the steeple currently under construction will “be visible from virtually every point in Fairview,” he wrote. 

Bangerter wrote that each house of worship “conveys its own unique message within the larger context of the faith.” A steeple’s reach toward heaven is not for municipal authorities to decide, he wrote, “as if the edifice were little more than an office building.” While compelling reasons can justify limits, “a desire not to see a steeple is not a compelling reason.”

“Towering steeples of many denominations dot the landscapes of rural towns throughout America,” Bangerter wrote. “The temple’s modest steeple will only complement Fairview’s character.”

Latter-day Saints’ temples don’t hold large congregations on a specific day of the week like other churches; members visit in smaller groups throughout the week for ceremonies like baptism. They are considered sacred houses of the Lord by church members. 

Hubbard asked the church to think about what the temple will symbolize in the town.

“We welcome the temple,” he said. “It’s just so big.”

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