Fairview council outlines nonbinding settlement with LDS Church after mediation; residents split on height, precedent and legal risk

The Fairview Town Council on Dec. 3 described the outcome of mediation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that reduces the size and peak height of a proposed temple but leaves key design, lighting and traffic details for the Planning & Zoning review.

Mayor (unnamed) said the parties had mediated under retired federal magistrate Jeff Kaplan and that the church agreed to reduce a previously proposed 45,000-square-foot design to a building just under 30,000 square feet with most exterior walls at about 35 feet and a central decorative element reduced to about 20 feet above grade. "This is a memorandum, a nonbinding memorandum of settlement that we would agree to do this," the mayor said, adding that he and Mayor Pro Tem John had signed the document on behalf of the town.

The agreement is nonbinding, town staff said, meaning it can be revised during the formal review process. "Nonbinding means that we can change it," resident Ben Brown asked; the mayor affirmed that final approvals would still go through Planning & Zoning and then back to the council.

Legal counsel Clark warned the council and…