TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – The mayor of Fairview, Texas, recently announced in a letter to Fairview residents that the town will enter into non-binding mediation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In that letter, Mayor Henry Lessner also notes that the council approved a “Zoning Defense Fund” to “protect the town in the event of litigation.”

This came after a public meeting was held to discuss the potential temple to be located in Fairview, where a conditional use permit was denied.

The proposed McKinney-area temple affects many Latter-day Saint church members in East Texas; for this will be the temple assigned to them, where they will take part in the ceremonies considered sacred within the Church. Currently, East Texas members of the Church perform these ordinances at the Dallas temple.

The church argued that temple engineers and architects complied with all town regulations and that both federal and state laws permitted places of worship to be built at the recommended heights.

In an interview Thursday, Mayor Lessner said they were working with the Church, but the building was too large for the residential area where it was built.

“The problem is and is our zoning laws,” Lessner said. “35 meters. We’ve already allowed them to double in size and go up to 68 feet.

They got up to 68 feet in steeples and meetinghouses, and we’re willing to let that happen again. But there comes a point when big is big, and we don’t want to get any bigger.”

The main goal of the upcoming mediation is to try to find a middle group where the two groups can work together.

Lessner says both sides have strong positions on the temple, but they hope this meeting will be successful and find a way to make it work.

“I suspect this will be a very difficult meeting,” Lessner said. “I don’t want to speculate on what will happen because who knows?

I don’t know what they were thinking. “It may be a very short meeting, but I hope not.”

Lessner said he looks forward to finding a solution.

“Hopefully there are things we can do to come and settle them in that area or help them find a place nearby in some way,” Lessner said.

KLTV also reached out to the Church for comment on the upcoming meeting.

“The Church looks forward to meeting with town representatives and working with them on ways to address the community’s concerns while also protecting the Church’s religious freedom rights,” said Melissa McKneely, Director of Communications for the Dallas East Coordinating Council. For the church.

The meeting will take place on November 18.

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