LDS temple project approved again by City of Cody judge

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has again been cleared by a Cody judge to begin building its new temple in the area.

On Monday, August 26, District Court Judge John Perry made a ruling that sustained the City of Cody’s decision to approve the new temple project that was announced in 2021.

Judge Perry rejected challenges filed by a neighborhood group that wanted the temple built in an alternate location and based his decision on procedural issues and not the case’s merits, according to court documents.

The LDS church intends to build a 9,950-square-foot facility on a 4.69-acre vacant parcel off Skyline Drive just west of the Olive Glenn Golf Course.

Some local residents formed a group called Preserve Our Cody Neighborhoods (POCN), who began criticizing and opposing the plans and promoting “Relocate the Temple.”

While several meetings were held to argue or support the project, Judge Perry determined in his ruling that most of those discussions were irrelevant because the City of Cody’s Planning, Zoning and Adjustment Board had actually already approved the church’s plans at the very first meeting on the manner.

Hundreds of people attended the first meeting on June 15, 2023, in the Cody Auditorium that lasted more than five hours between public comments and board deliberations.

Things quickly escalated when the board believed it had approved a conditional use permit for the temple while tabling the site plan when they thought they had paused the decision on whether the tower needed special exception to exceed a 30-foot limit on building height within that zoning area, but that wasn’t the case.

According to other media reports, City Planner Todd Stowell argued before and at the initial meeting that the tower would be exempt from the height restriction because the building itself would meet the requirements, but the board didn’t agree and did not want to accept his explanation.

Stowell felt that the board had already made a finding that the height complied with the rules, stating that the line saying the temple “complies with the building height limit” was attached to the board’s approval of the conditional use permit.

In Stowell’s report to the board, because the members never took out the finding, they had arguably accepted his recommendation and settled the height problem. 

The Powell Tribune reported that some members of the board felt deceived by the presentation and thought they made it clear that the height needed further deliberation and decided to rewrite several findings, but Judge Perry ruled that the board lacked the authority to do so and therefore any changes that were made were invalid.

Although the board thought a motion to approve the site plan failed on a 3-1-1 vote, that was actually all the approval it needed, Perry declared.

Because three votes aren’t a majority of a seven-member board, Board Chair Carson Rowley had ruled that the motion to approve the site plan had failed and that they didn’t give final approval until August 8 when they had added conditions that limited the high roof and nighttime lighting of the temple grounds.

Judge Perry determined that the Cody city ordinance only requires the plan to receive the majority of support of board members “in attendance” to pass, resulting in a passing vote, and any extra amendments or changes done at later dates were invalid.

Therefore, because the final decision was technically made on June 15, 2023, the judge held that the appeals filed in August 2023 by POCN fell outside the 30-day window stating, “The Court cannot agree that the Board’s improper and impromptu choice to reconsider the approval at subsequent meetings restart the clock for the filing of a petition for review.”

Perry wrote that he lacked the jurisdiction to consider the group’s arguments, and they now have 30 days to decide whether they will appeal the decision to the Wyoming Supreme Court. 

“Since the announcement of a temple in Cody, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has worked with city leaders and listened to the concerns of residents, to bring an acceptable proposal forward that meets local zoning requirements,” church spokesman Sam Penrod said.

Penrod is the media relations manager from the LDS church communication department.

“The city approved this proposal in 2023, and we’re grateful for last week’s ruling from the Wyoming District Court upholding the city’s approval.”

The church has officially had permission to begin construction since September when the city granted the building permit after Perry rejected an initial request from POCN attempting to block them from beginning to build.

As of now, the LDS church has yet to announce when construction might start, since they opted to hold off amid the litigation.

Lovell stake president Tom Newman said he was thrilled and anxious for the temple project to move forward.

“I hope whatever hard feelings exist for the temple’s construction get replaced with understanding,” Newman said. “The building of this temple will bless the lives of everyone in the Big Horn Basin, whether they are members of the church or not.”