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Federal Way committee agrees to start negotiations for proposed LDS temple; public review to follow
Summary
The committee authorized staff to begin negotiating a development agreement with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints for an approximately 12‑acre property in south Federal Way where the church proposes a roughly 43,000‑square‑foot, two‑story temple.
The committee authorized staff to begin negotiating a development agreement with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints for property the church owns west of I‑5 in south Federal Way, near Todd Beamer High School.
Community Development Director Keith Niven said the church owns three parcels totaling roughly 12 acres and proposes a two‑story temple approximately 43,000 square feet in size. Niven said the property is zoned RS‑35 (single‑family residential) where churches are an allowed use, and that a development agreement would allow the city and the church to negotiate site‑specific standards such as building height, landscaping, traffic mitigation and public benefits.
Why it matters: A development agreement allows a city to customize standards and secure public benefits in exchange for flexibility from development rules that otherwise apply by right or through conditional‑use review. Staff and church representatives told the committee the temple’s operational profile differs from a typical worship assembly — the building’s functions are performed in multiple smaller rooms and the facility often operates on different schedules than typical Sunday assemblies — and that traffic impacts are typically spread over time rather than concentrated in a single weekly peak.
What staff and the church said: - Keith Niven (Community Development Director) described the site, zoning and that no site plan had been submitted yet; he said the process now is whether to begin negotiations. - William Lynn, land‑use counsel for the church, said development agreements provide flexibility and enable negotiation of public‑benefit components; he said temples are typically not used for large assemblies and grounds are often maintained and open to the public after construction.
Public process and next steps: Niven and staff said a development agreement requires public notice and will come back to council with a negotiated document and public hearing before any approval. Council member Walsh recused himself from the item and the committee voted to forward the initiation request to the Jan. 21 consent agenda.
