Mormon Temple approval stalls

June Casagrande

Extensive community meetings, hours of staff time, a

three-inch-thick environmental report and untold reams of

correspondence between residents and city officials have all hinged

on the belief that the city has a say in whether a Mormon temple is

built here. But a closer look at a new federal law suggests this

might not be the case at all.

City officials are now analyzing the Religious Land Use and

Institutionalized Persons Act. The act, which President Clinton

signed in 2000, says, “No government shall impose or implement a

land-use regulation in a manner that imposes a substantial burden on

the religious exercise of a person.” There are limits, of course. A

government can restrict religious exercise when doing so as the

“least restrictive means to serve a compelling government interest.”

But such government interest usually amounts to protecting public

health and safety. And for Newport Beach, this law, combined with

some legal precedents, suggests the city may have an uphill battle in

defending its power to rule yea or nay on the temple.

“The law will be one of the issues that comes up before the

Planning Commission and the City Council,” City Manager Homer Bludau

said. “It’s a relatively new law and there isn’t much case law on it.

Our city attorney’s office is looking into it to see what guidance

they can give us on this issue.”

The proposed temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day

Saints meets all city guidelines but one: The 124-foot steeple exceeds the 55-foot height standard for the area. Temple planners

need a city-issued permit to exceed the standard -- or at least

that’s the assumption everyone has been operating on.

But now officials are wondering whether the federal law protects

the church’s right to build the steeple because the spire’s height is

not a question of aesthetics or architecture. The steeple dimensions

are a direct edict from the church president in Salt Lake City, who

church members believe acts by divine inspiration. The spire itself,

they say, is a link between heaven and earth, humans and God. Its

height, they say, is itself a form of religious expression.

But the steeple is also the biggest problem for some residents

near the Bonita Canyon Drive site who say it will dominate their

views.

“If the city is just saying, ‘Gee. We don’t like the way the

steeple looks,’ well, that’s not a compelling government interest,”

said Anthony Picarello, general counsel for the Becket Fund for

Religious Liberty, a nonprofit legal defense fund.

Weatherford Clayton, president of the church’s Newport Beach

stake, said the temple planners hope they can avoid a legal challenge

entirely by continuing to work to win the favor of neighbors.

“We’re hoping that as things go through the permit process we will

have smooth sailing,” he said.

But if Utah leadership wants a legal fight, like the ones they

have already won in places like Harrison, N.Y., and Boston, there’s a

distinct possibility that the city could lose.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.