Temple decision left bad blood

June Casagrande

Hoping to convince Mormon church officials to reduce their steeple

height a little further, Councilman Steve Bromberg has warned church

leaders that some neighbors of their proposed temple have bitter

feelings about what they consider a “tainted” process.

The councilman met with local church leaders and delegates from

Salt Lake City on Monday evening in hopes of persuading church

leaders to make further concessions on their project. Bromberg told

church leaders that he has no power to negotiate a deal, and said his

goal was to communicate the feelings of constituents opposed to the

project.

“I tried very hard to represent to them the feelings of the

residents upset about this thing,” Bromberg said. “I know the church

feels that they have already made a lot of concessions, but those

residents are angry. The church’s victory was tainted.”

Bromberg, whose district includes the temple site, met with the

church leaders at their request in advance of a Nov. 12 City Council

item that appeals a Planning Commission decision to approve the

steeple height at just under 100 feet.

A group of residents appealed the decision, outraged that city and

church documents gave the height of the steeple on the existing stake

center as 86 feet high, though it is really only about 68 feet high.

Church planners have emphasized that the steeple on the new temple

must appear higher than the stake center’s. City planners took the

86-foot figure into account when arriving at their compromise

recommendation: a 100-foot steeple.

During the Planning Commission hearings, at least one church

leader acknowledged that he had known the documents were incorrect

and apologized for not pointing out the discrepancy.

“We can’t know for sure whether city planners’ recommendation

would have been different if they knew that steeple was only 68 feet,

but we do know that these things were taken into consideration to

make the decision,” Bromberg said. He told church leaders that

further concessions could go a long way toward correcting a simmering

contempt toward the church among some in the community.

“What’s happening now is based on emotion,” said Weatherford

Clayton, president of the church’s existing Newport Beach stake

center, who attended the informal meeting with Bromberg. “The

Planning Commission gave very objective reasons for doing what they

did. But now we’re dealing with an emotional question ....The temple

for us is sacred from top to bottom, and there are things we will

have to disagree on with some neighbors, but not in an unfriendly

way.”

Bromberg said he is not ready to take a position on what steeple

height he will support in a council vote. He said he will first wait

to see what the church proposes to the council.

All decisions on the temple, to be built at 2300 Bonita Canyon

Drive, are made by the church’s president in Salt Lake City. Original

plans called for a 124-foot steeple. Church leaders reduced the

height and agreed to reduce hours of lighting and change the exterior

color.

* 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.