Northwest Las Vegas neighbors say LDS temple would ‘stick out like sore thumb’

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — There are no streetlights, sidewalks, or traffic jams on Tee Pee Lane and neighbors say they want to keep it that way.

Twelve residents and members of the Northwest Rural Preservation Association, a group dedicated to protecting and preserving the rural culture and lifestyle of the Lone Mountain area, said they have no problem with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, just the building.

The height of the 240-foot tall spire of the 19.8-acre temple site is one of many issues brought up by Brinton Marsden, a long-time resident in the community.

“We’re talking about a three-story office building that’s going to be lit up 24/7,” he said. “It’s going to stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of a rural setting.”

Marsden pointed out the temple’s structure breaches the existing code in the Interlocal Agreement between the City of Las Vegas and Clark County created on Jan. 2, 2002, as a long-term plan to protect the area from higher-density urban planning.

“For instance, no home can be built on less than a half-acre,” Marsden said. “It has to be a single-family home no taller than two stories.”

Northwest RPA Treasurer Erin DeLoe said she is concerned their dark skies will disappear once the temple is lit at night.

“We have no streetlights, no curbs, no gutters, and no sidewalks, and that’s what we like,” she said. “This structure will be as tall as the Durango Casino.”

In a moment of brief silence Christian Salmon, a Lone Mountain resident, highlighted the absence of noise in the neighborhood amid the crowd assembled.

“They came here wanting us to change but really it’s already black and white,” he said. “All they need to do is follow the law.”

The neighborhood group strongly denied that any part of their concerns were about the religious affiliation of the building.

“If the Catholic Church wanted to build a basilica across the street, I’d be against that too,” Marsden said. “This is not a religious thing at all.”

DeLoe gestured in agreement with the rest of the crowd saying they have no ill will towards members of the LDS faith.

“I value their faith, and what they have taught their people,” she said. “I don’t want this to be taken as an affront to their beliefs because that’s not it at all, it’s the building.”

The residents said they plan to speak at the Las Vegas City Council Planning Commission meeting on April 9, where they plan to show their community’s signatures of those who oppose the project.

“Why this location?”

Bud Stoddard, stake president of the Las Vegas Lone Mountain Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints, said when he looks at the 19.8-acre site he sees an opportunity for the community his more than 3,000 members have long wanted.

Since 1989 members of the LDS faith have only had the Las Vegas Nevada Temple at the foothills of Frenchman Mountain to attend, worship, and celebrate marriages.

“We need a location that’s close to members of the church,” he said. “The valley has grown over the last three and a half decades and for that reason, it has become more difficult for members, such as myself, who live all the way on the west side of town out by Lone Mountain to make it over.”

Stoddard said the community of seven wards and congregations he’s heard from — in the area — are tremendously excited about the possible temple.

“In my conversations with members of the church this is the highest priority for them,” he said. “They love and are excited about the fact the temple has been announced for this area.”

If the temple is approved and built Stoddard says he looks forward to opening the doors and letting the community in before the building is dedicated, after dedication only members of the church will be able to enter the temple.

“Building temples is essential for our religious beliefs,” Stoddard said. “What we do inside of temples is considered, by us, to be the most sacred, the most important, types of religious worship that we can do—they prepare us for the next life.”

8 News Now asked Stoddard for a response to the concerns of residents and Northwest RPA members about the temple’s height and footprint.

“Those are great questions, and they’re above my pay grade,” he said. “I just don’t have a say about the overall size of the temple.”

Stoddard said he believes a temple is not a terrible thing for a community looking to preserve a peaceful environment.

“This area is a 20-acre site and it is going to be used for something,” he said. “Compared to other things that could be built on that site, this project is a hole-in-one. It’s going to be tranquil, peaceful, and built to the highest possible standards.”

A spokesperson for the LDS church said current plans for the Lone Mountain temple show it will not have an Angel Moroni statue which is typically lit overnight on the top spire at temple properties.

Las Vegas City Councilwoman Francis Allen-Palenske for Ward 4, where the Lone Mountain temple is proposed, replied to questions relating to the property in a statement:

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