Cody WY residents not happy about McTemple ruining views

[I Have Questions]

Church gets approval from Cody Wyoming with no restrictions. The steeple height is over 100 feet tall and no other restrictions were implimented . https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/08 ... n-light/ .
The town council said no more meetings are planned. No wonder the church scores a -20 on yougov favorability scale. https://today.yougov.com/topics/politi ... surveys

I wonder how much money was in the brown envelope that the council people received from the Church?

[Kishkumen]

The Cody temple case isn't one of those cases. It's about building the temple in a residential neighborhood which isn't zoned to permit either churches or commercial buildings. Besides the issue of the steeple, which can obstruct views, the lighting is a problem in residential neighborhoods. The Church insists on lighting the exterior of the temples with bright floodlights at night, whether or not the temple is in use at that time. The light pollution is a legitimate concern for neighbors living nearby. The height of the steeples, which are also brilliantly lit, adds to the light problem.

All of those things seem like legitimate concerns to me. I wonder where the LDS Church might meet these prospective neighbors half way. I recall they turned down the lights on the DC temple because the sudden appearance of a bright building when turning round a curve on the Beltway was causing automobile accidents. I also know that in the past there were temples that had a lower profile. Ones like the Cardston Alberta Temple don't reach such obvious heights, and, in my opinion, they look really lovely.

[I Have Questions]

I wonder where the LDS Church might meet these prospective neighbors half way.

Can you recall a time when the Church met anyone halfway?

[Rivendale]

Church gets approval from Cody Wyoming with no restrictions. The steeple height is over 100 feet tall and no other restrictions were implimented . https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/08 ... n-light/ .
The town council said no more meetings are planned. No wonder the church scores a -20 on yougov favorability scale. https://today.yougov.com/topics/politi ... surveys

I wonder how much money was in the brown envelope that the council people received from the Church?

And McNuggets!

[Rivendale]

I wonder where the LDS Church might meet these prospective neighbors half way.

Can you recall a time when the Church met anyone halfway?

The history of Mormonism and community interactions seems to indicate a pattern. What that pattern is interpreted as has varied over the centuries. What metric would be used to indicate that appropriate community pushback is warranted?

[Res Ipsa]

Church gets approval from Cody Wyoming with no restrictions. The steeple height is over 100 feet tall and no other restrictions were implimented . https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/08 ... n-light/ .
The town council said no more meetings are planned. No wonder the church scores a -20 on yougov favorability scale. https://today.yougov.com/topics/politi ... surveys

I wonder how much money was in the brown envelope that the council people received from the Church?

No bribes needed. Local zoning codes often incorporate the Uniform Building Code and other more general codes. Unless the localgets very good advice, the local requirements may not mesh well with the standard codes. That leaves loopholes.

The reporter for the local paper wasn’t completely clear, but it’s sounds like here’s what happened. The church assumed that the height limit applied to the steeple and applied for an exemption. Perhaps in connection with fly specking the code in connection with the lawsuits, some legal beagle noticed that the height limit applies only to rooflines (it was a residential area) and that the steeple wasn’t technically part of the roof. So, the church simply withdrew the request for an exemption, which meant that there was no non conforming use to rule on.

[Marcus]

Dealing with Zoning boards is quite the adventure. I spoke at one, where significant code exemptions were being asked for. At a preliminary hearing, when the neighborhood public was invited to speak, I stood up with my (admittedly technical) objections, but was repeatedly asked by the judge if I was qualified by the state to speak as an expert, after which he would say I couldn't say that. I was very confused.

Between hearings, a lawyer friend pulled me aside, and said to preface each of my comments with "as a concerned citizen living in the affected area, I would like to express my concern about....." and then to go ahead with my exact same comments. It turns out our state code says neighbors who are invited to attend the meeting and are speaking as such "are allowed to express their opinion in any way they choose," and therefore their statements are not restricted by expert opinion laws because they are not claiming to be an expert, but simply a neighbor with concerns. (Who maybe sounds like an expert but isn't claiming to be. or something like that, it's been a while.)

Anyway, I thought it was pretty slimy of the judge to take advantage of my lack of technical knowledge of state code, let alone local and county code to attempt to shut me down, but in the next round, I stood up again in the open to neighborhood members portion and followed my friend's advice, to the T. I'm sure it was monotonous, but I started every objection the way she recommended, and the 'are you an expert' comments stopped and I was allowed to speak freely.

(The judge did ask me to verify my local address, how long I had lived there, my employment and what I did for a living multiple times, however, including asking repeatedly if I was a lawyer, or in law school, or if I taught law. Score 1 for the citizens, and their lawyer friends. )

Oh, and the zoning exemptions were denied. Knowledge is a wonderful thing.

[yellowstone123]

Many times a Judge will swing his or her chair around and grab a book which is the code. He's looking at directions from the legislature as they write the code.

[Rivendale]

The Mayor of Cody Wyoming halted the building permit. The drama continues. https://mybighornbasin.com/codys-may ... ermit/ The steeple is the issue.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

The Mayor of Cody Wyoming halted the building permit. The drama continues. https://mybighornbasin.com/codys-may ... ermit/ The steeple is the issue.

Mormons are definitely the, as DCP might put it, the Jews now. They have to re-work their steeple plans? Yellow stars are definitely in the works.