FAIRVIEW, Texas (April 30, 2025) — The Fairview Town Council has given final approval for the construction of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) temple after a contentious yearlong zoning battle that divided the community. In a meeting that stretched past midnight, council members voted 5-2 late Tuesday to grant a permit for the temple project under certain conditions. The marathon meeting drew intense public interest, with hundreds of residents watching as the controversial proposal was decided.
Background: A Yearlong Zoning Dispute
Over the past year Fairview Texas became the center of a heated debate over religious land use and local zoning laws​. The LDS Church had proposed a temple (originally dubbed the “McKinney Texas Temple,” now renamed the Fairview Texas Temple) on a parcel next to an existing LDS meetinghouse in a residentially zoned area. The initial plans called for a 43,200-square-foot building topped by a spire nearly 174 feet tall​. This would have made it the tallest structure in Fairview, far exceeding the town’s normal 35-foot height limit for buildings in that zone.
Local officials and many residents were alarmed by the scale of the proposal, arguing it did not fit Fairview’s small-town, rural character. In August 2024, the Town Council unanimously rejected the temple’s permit request, citing concerns over the height and size of the building. Some neighbors feared the towering spire and bright lighting would dominate the landscape and set an unwelcome precedent for future development. “Large, bright buildings are the antithesis of the town’s values,” Fairview resident Marlo Ballard said, urging the church to scale back its design to better respect the area’s character​. Opponents formed a group called Fairview United and even raised money for a legal defense fund to uphold the zoning restrictions​. Some opponents were so resolute that they publicly said they would welcome a lawsuit from the church rather than see the original plan approved​.
On the other side, church members and leaders emphasized their religious freedom and the need for the new temple. The proposed Fairview temple would be only the second LDS temple in the Dallas–Fort Worth region; currently the Dallas Texas Temple (in Dallas) is the lone temple serving roughly 100,000 Latter-day Saints across North Texas and neighboring states​. Supporters argued that the growing LDS community in Collin County deserves a closer house of worship for important religious ordinances. “We believe we have the freedom in this country to practice how we believe… This is what God wants,” said Fairview resident Holly Snow, a Latter-day Saint, underscoring her view that the temple is needed and divinely sanctioned.
The stalemate escalated into a legal standoff. In fall 2024, LDS Church representatives signaled they were prepared to take legal action under laws protecting religious land use. In a letter to the town, church attorneys invoked the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act, arguing that the denial “substantially burdens the practice and expression” of their faith and that “religious freedom outweighs subjective concerns about aesthetics”​. They also pointed to federal protections under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) to bolster their case. By October, town officials braced for litigation, even establishing a legal defense fund in case a court battle ensued.
Mediation and Compromise Attempts
Hoping to avoid an expensive lawsuit, town leaders and church officials entered mediation in late 2024. In November, they reached a tentative nonbinding settlement: the church agreed to significantly scale down its plans, reducing the building’s size to about 30,000 square feet and the steeple’s height from 174 feet to 120 feet. The temple would also be officially renamed the Fairview Texas Temple, at the town’s request, rather than be associated with the neighboring city of McKinney. “The Church is pleased with the approval and believed the modifications to the temple’s design fully satisfied any concerns previously raised by the Town Council,” LDS Church spokesperson Sam Penrod said at the time, expressing optimism that the compromise design addressed local objections.
In concept, the mediated plan seemed to offer common ground. Fairview’s mayor and council initially signaled support for the revised 120-foot steeple design pending formal public input​. However, the deal began to fray as details were hashed out. By January 2025, church leaders grew concerned that even the downsized temple might not win final approval. The church announced it had “lost confidence” that Fairview would actually green-light the new design and indicated it was prepared to resume a legal course​. Essentially, the compromise was put on hold, and the specter of a lawsuit loomed again. Fairview’s mayor Henry Lessner later explained that negotiations became strained, saying “misunderstandings” and continued calls from some in town for even further height reductions undermined the tentative agreement​.
Throughout early 2025, both sides hardened their positions. The LDS Church formally submitted the 120-foot steeple plan in March – effectively giving the town one more chance to approve the mediated compromise – even as its attorneys stood ready to file suit if the permit was denied again​. At the same time, vocal residents maintained pressure on officials to uphold the town’s zoning standards. Dozens of citizens spoke out at public hearings and sent comments, with opponents stressing that allowing a 120-foot structure (more than three times the usual height limit) would forever alter the town’s identity. The stage was set for a pivotal council vote in April that would determine whether Fairview and the church could find a resolution outside of court.
Final Vote and Approval of the Temple
That decisive meeting came on April 29, 2025. Fairview’s Town Hall was packed to capacity, and a spillover crowd filled the lobby and tuned in online for the special council session. Only about 50 people could fit in the council chamber, but an additional 60 gathered in the lobby, and more than 500 residents watched via live stream as proceedings unfolded​. The meeting stretched for hours as over 40 residents signed up to speak during the public comment period, passionately voicing arguments for and against the temple one last time​.
After deliberating late into the night, the Town Council narrowly voted to approve the temple’s permit. The final vote, taken just after midnight, was 5 in favor and 2 opposed​. The approval is conditional: the church must adhere to a list of site and design requirements largely drawn from the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommendations. Notably, the council granted an exception for the temple’s steeple height – allowing the 120-foot spire that had been negotiated – even though the zoning commission had earlier urged a much lower height (around 68 feet, equivalent to the town’s existing water tower)​. In all other aspects, the temple must comply with the mitigation measures proposed during the mediation, such as limits on exterior lighting at night and possibly landscaping buffers, to help the structure better blend with its surroundings​.
Mayor Henry Lessner and several council members described the decision as a painful but necessary compromise. Lessner, who had been one of the most vocal opponents of the temple’s height, ultimately voted yes on the permit under the advice of the town’s legal counsel. “It’s not what we wanted, but five of us figure we don’t have any choice but to go forward with this,” the mayor said after the vote, alluding to the looming threat of a costly lawsuit if the town denied the church’s application again. He added shortly after midnight, “It hurts my heart to do what I did, but we had to do it”. Town officials openly acknowledged that fighting the church in court under religious freedom laws could bankrupt the small town. By approving the compromise design, Fairview avoids a legal battle that many felt it could not win. “We had to put the town’s welfare first,” Mayor Lessner said, noting that while he still dislikes the height of the steeple, the temple project had met all other town requirements and leaving the issue unresolved any longer would benefit no one​.
The two dissenting council members who voted against the temple permit did not make extended remarks during the final session, but their opposition aligned with the persistent resident concerns. They appeared willing to risk litigation rather than approve a structure they felt was incompatible with local standards. The split vote reflected the community’s divide: even among town leaders, there was reluctance and disagreement about the best course of action. In the end, however, the majority’s decision means the LDS temple can proceed. Fairview’s town attorney and the church’s legal representatives are expected to formalize the conditional use permit in the coming days, incorporating the agreed-upon conditions. With that, the church will be able to submit final construction plans and, once permits are finalized, break ground on the temple.
Supporters’ Perspective and Reactions
LDS Church members and representatives have expressed relief and gratitude at the council’s approval. For the hundreds of Latter-day Saints in Collin County, the vote is the culmination of months of prayer, advocacy, and negotiations. “It’s extremely good to know that it’s over — that they made the right decision,” said Stephen Drye, a local church member who had watched the proceedings closely. “It would have been devastating if it had gone any further… I hate the idea of our church ever having to sue a town, but sometimes you have to stand your ground,” Drye said of the tense process leading up to the vote. Many LDS residents who attended the meeting in support – identifiable by their choice of blue clothing as a show of unity – hugged one another and smiled in the Town Hall lobby when the result was announced, visibly relieved that the temple had cleared this hurdle.
Church leaders have emphasized that their aim was to find a solution acceptable to the town while fulfilling the church’s religious needs. Melissa McKneely, a spokesperson for the LDS Church in North Texas, noted that the only existing temple in the metroplex (in Dallas) currently serves an enormous region, including North Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas – roughly 100,000 church members in total​. The Fairview temple will significantly improve access to sacred worship services for members in the northern Dallas suburbs. “The temple is a sacred space for our members, and we’ve worked hard to address the community’s concerns,” McKneely said, explaining that the church made several concessions in the temple’s design and even its name to respect Fairview’s wishes​. Those concessions – such as reducing the height by about 50 feet, agreeing to dim exterior lighting at night, and renaming the project to prominently feature the town’s name – were offered to demonstrate goodwill and compromise, church officials say.
For many supporters, religious liberty was a central issue. They argue that Fairview’s officials had a duty to accommodate a bona fide house of worship, within reason. Daniel Trythall, the local LDS stake (regional) president based in Allen, had implored the town earlier in the year to uphold the mediated deal rather than force a lawsuit. In a letter to the council in March, Trythall wrote that there was “a way forward” without litigation if the town simply honored the commitments made during mediation. He suggested that the church had gone to great lengths to modify its temple plans and that proceeding with a lawsuit was a last resort. Now that the permit is approved, church leaders have avoided taking that drastic step. “This outcome benefits everyone — the town avoids a court battle, and we can move ahead with building a temple that will serve our members for generations,” one regional church representative said, expressing hope for improved relations with the community going forward​. (As of Wednesday, the Church had not issued an official public press release on the Fairview vote, but local leaders have communicated their appreciation informally.)
Opponents’ Perspective and Ongoing Concerns
Opponents of the temple’s scale, while resigned to the council’s decision, continue to voice concerns about its impact on Fairview. Many who fought the project feel that the fundamental issue – the height and prominence of the building – has not been fully resolved, even if it is somewhat reduced. “Please build your temple, but do so in a way that honors and respects the rural character of Fairview and doesn’t set a new and unbearable precedent,” Marlo Ballard pleaded to church officials during the public comment, encapsulating the sentiment of many who opposed the plan. Ballard and others worry that allowing a 120-foot structure, far above normal zoning limits, opens the door for future developers to demand exceptions, potentially eroding the town’s controlled-growth ethos. To them, the LDS temple controversy wasn’t about religion – it was about ensuring that any large project adheres to the standards that residents agreed upon for their community.
Members of Fairview United, the grassroots group that organized against the temple’s height, have mixed feelings in the aftermath. On one hand, they take credit for the concessions the church did make. “A 174-foot tower would never have been acceptable – at least now it’s 120 feet and lights off at night. That only happened because we spoke up,” one resident said, noting that without public pressure, the compromise might not have occurred. On the other hand, many in the group are disappointed that town leaders ultimately yielded in the face of a legal threat. In their view, the council’s 5-2 vote represents a cave-in to pressure, rather than a true consensus. The two council members who voted “no” were hailed by opponents as standing on principle. “It’s discouraging,” another resident opposing the temple remarked, “The message sent is that if an entity is big enough or has enough money, they can get around our rules. We love our LDS neighbors, but we also love our town’s character.”
Some opposition leaders have urged residents to remain respectful and not direct any ire at local Latter-day Saint families. Throughout the debate, both sides attempted to keep rhetoric civil and focused on the planning issues, though emotions ran high. In a symbolic show of dissent on the eve of the vote, opponents lit Fairview’s water tower green (the color adopted by the anti-temple-height group) to signal their continued resistance. Town officials noted that this lighting was not officially sanctioned by the Town Council, but it highlighted just how passionate and organized the opposition became. Now that the decision is made, Fairview United members say they will shift their attention to ensuring the church follows through on all mitigation promises during construction – and they vow to hold the town accountable in enforcing the permit conditions. While deeply unhappy with the outcome, most concede that the focus must now turn to constructive engagement: “It’s going to be built,” one opponent said, “so we’ll do our best to make sure it impacts us as little as possible.”
Next Steps and Official Statements
With the temple permit approved, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can move forward to break ground in Fairview once final building plans are submitted and standard building permits are issued. Church officials have not announced a construction timeline yet, but such projects typically take several years to complete. The Fairview Texas Temple will be the second LDS temple in North Texas, joining the long-standing Dallas temple, and will serve church members in Collin County and surrounding areas. Town officials stress that all agreed conditions – including the 120-foot cap on the steeple height, limits on lighting, and other site requirements – must be followed. Any significant deviation would require additional approvals or could invalidate the permit. “We’ll make sure the church honors every single condition,” Mayor Lessner said firmly, indicating the town will be vigilant during the construction phase.
In a brief statement, a regional spokesperson for the LDS Church expressed appreciation for Fairview’s consideration and the input of local residents. “We are thankful for the open dialogue throughout this process and for the community members who participated,” the statement read, noting that the church is committed to being “a good neighbor” as the project moves ahead. The LDS Church typically holds a formal groundbreaking ceremony for new temples; no date has been set yet for such an event in Fairview. Once constructed, the temple will not be a regular meetinghouse but a sacred facility where Latter-day Saints partake in religious ceremonies such as marriages and rites of faith. Its presence in Fairview will mark an important milestone for local church members who currently travel long distances to attend temple services​.
Fairview’s decision to approve the temple brings an end to a fierce yearlong dispute at the municipal level. Both supporters and opponents acknowledge that the process was emotionally taxing for the community. Going forward, many are hopeful that tensions will ease. “This has been a rough road for Fairview,” said one town council member after the vote, “but I believe we can come together after this and continue to make sure Fairview remains the town we all love.” For now, the focus shifts from the town hall to the construction site, as Fairview, Texas prepares to host a new LDS temple – a development that, despite the divisions along the way, will undoubtedly become a notable part of the town’s history.
Sources -
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Lilly Kersh, The Dallas Morning News – Fairview leaders allow Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to build temple​ - https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/2025/04/29/will-fairview-and-lds-church-find-common-ground-council-gathers-for-temple-vote
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Lilly Kersh, The Dallas Morning News – Timeline: Fairview’s temple dispute with the LDS church​ - https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/2024/10/30/fairviews-temple-dispute-with-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-a-timeline
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FOX 4 News (KDFW) – Fairview City Council approves latest temple proposal - https://www.fox4news.com/video/1633380
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Scott Schaefer, Salt Lake Tribune – LDS temple fight: Church plans to sue Texas town- https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2025/02/03/lds-temple-fight-church-plans-sue/
