LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A highly anticipated City of Las Vegas Planning Commission meeting ended with nearly all commissioners voting in favor of recommending plans for a proposed Latter-day Saint temple in the northwest Las Vegas valley.
The proposed temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would sit on 20 acres of land off of Grand Canyon Drive and Craig Road.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of people turned out to the meeting on Tuesday that started at 6 p.m. and went on past midnight. A vast majority were LDS church members, who wore blue shirts with white "VOTE YES" stickers.
In the end, seven members of the commission voted in favor of the proposal — with three changes — and one member chose to abstain from the voting.
Based on concerns expressed by neighbors who oppose the temple's construction as proposed, the commission asked that these changes be made:
- No lights spilling over the property,
- parking lights must be motion-activated and turned off at late hours,
- and no street lights on Tee Pee Lane.
Some of those recommendations stem from how the land where the temple would be built is categorized. The area is what's known as a Rural Preservation neighborhood, where the lots are larger and there are other regulations around what can be built.
Lone Mountain residents who oppose the temple have also expressed concerns over how tall it would be. Renderings show the building's steeple at a height of 216 feet — about as tall as the new Durango Resort in the southwest valley.
"What we're worried about is our neighborhood's going to be packed forever with traffic and light and other things that are not what we're accustomed to to in our area," said Lone Mountain resident Christian Salmon. "We have no problem with the LDS church in particular, and we welcome them to go where it is zoned."
The Planning Commision's vote doesn't make the plans final. Their recommendation will be given to the Las Vegas City Council, which is expected to cast its votes on the plans at a meeting on July 17.
