LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – More than a dozen people came to the Las Vegas City Planning Commission meeting Tuesday to talk about a proposed new temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in their northwest valley neighborhood.
They will have to wait more than a month to do so, though, after the commission issued an abeyance on the issue. Hundreds of people say they don’t want the temple, with more than 700 people signing a petition against it.
The temple would be 216 feet tall on a 20-acre site off Grand Canyon and Alexander. FOX5 reached out to LDS and was told the church has no comment at this time. The church has previously told FOX5 it will work with neighbors on their concerns.
Some neighbors have said having the church as part of the neighborhood will increase property values, but others are concerned with how they say it would affect their rural lifestyle.
“It just doesn’t belong in the rural preservation area,” Lone Mountain resident Marion Brady told FOX5 outside City Hall. “Many people like me have farm animals out there, and we need to keep the peace, the quiet, the darkness.”
In particular, Brady is concerned for her animals in the event a temple increases traffic in the area.
“I do have goats, and I do walk my goats around Lone Mountain,” she said. “Having the traffic so bad there, I would be afraid of something happening.”
Brady and other neighbors who came to City Hall don’t believe a temple of this size belongs in their neighborhood, which is a rural neighborhood preservation area.
“We already live here,” Denise Arencibia said. “That’s not what we’ve chosen. We’ve chosen to live this rural lifestyle.”
Arencibia spoke in favor of the church being built at just one story, or being constructed somewhere else.
“Take it out on 95,” she suggested. “Go toward the Paiute where there’s nobody yet.”
Brady is concerned about a domino effect. The Las Vegas City Council voted last month to amend a code, making it easier for houses of worship to apply for a special use permit to build in the area.
“If they change the zoning to commercial for one building, why don’t they change it for somebody else?” Brady asked. Pretty soon, it’s not going to be a preservation area for people with livestock that want the quiet.”
Brady, Arencibia and the other neighbors in attendance Tuesday will get a chance to speak on the issue again at the May 14 Planning Commission meeting.
LDS Church leaders say there are 85,000 members across the valley, and currently, there’s just one temple at the base of Sunrise Mountain. They say the new west side location is critical.
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