Red Ledges residents have not spoken publicly about the Heber Valley Temple lawsuit since bringing it against Wasatch County three years ago. With the state’s highest court set to hear oral arguments on Friday, spokesperson for the residents Bruce Van Dusen said it’s time to speak up.  “W e want to clarify exactly why we brought this action and why it’s important to property owners in Utah,” Van Dusen wrote in an email to The Wasatch Record. “We’re neighbors. We’re the people who live near the building site, and this started at our kitchen tables, not in a boardroom.” Van Dusen, along with Bruce Quade, Shawn Savarino and Dominic Savarino, first objected to Wasatch County against the church’s plan to construct a temple in their neighborhood. Wasatch County had approved the Heber City temple despite its location in a residential zone where new developments may be 35 feet from the natural grade.  The well-lit temple is set to be 210-feet-tall and 88,0000 square feet. Wasatch County used a legislative development agreement to approve the structure. That development agreement, Van Dusen said, is why the neighbors filed their lawsuit.  “We believe that creates a troubling precedent: What certainty do zoning laws actually provide?” Van Dusen said.  Van Dusen asserted that the decision has already caused Wasatch County to reexamine its own use of legislative development agreements. He referenced the county’s recent decision to oppose a legislative development agreement proposed by Philo Development.  “The county’s decision exactly reflects one of our suit’s main arguments,” Van Dusen said.  The Red Ledges resident said the group wants to be clear: They are not asking for “special treatment,” nor are they “challenging anyone’s right to develop their property.” “We are simply saying established land-use laws cannot be selectively waived for one property in one neighborhood. The same rules apply to everyone,” Van Dusen said. “The LDS church has the right to build on the lot in question. But the building, like all other buildings in Wasatch County, must conform to the height restrictions laid out in the county’s zoning laws and General Plan.” The Utah Supreme Court ruled in February that construction on the Heber Valley Temple could continue. That decision came after years of legal back-and-forth between Red Ledges residents, Wasatch County, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Fourth District Court Judge Jennifer Mabey, who originally presided over the case.  Sam Penrod, media relations manager for the church, said the court’s decision this year was a welcome one.  “Once completed, this temple will bless the lives of Latter-day Saints in the Heber Valley by providing a sacred house of worship closer to their homes,” Penrod said in February.  In May 2024, Mabey ruled that the church should be granted the opportunity to join the lawsuit filed against the county because the church “should not have to rely on the government to represent the church’s private interest as a landowner.” The state’s highest court will hear oral arguments at 9 a.m. on Friday. Associate Chief Justice Jill M. Pohlman and Justice Jay T. Jorgensen are recused. Seventh District Court Judge Brian Bolinder and Fifth District Court Judge Eric Gentry will sit.   Van Dusen said, no matter the outcome, the case will shape how every Utah property owner “thinks about the value and predictability of zoning laws.”  “It will also affect whether property owners believe that the laws governing their communities will be applied fairly and consistently. We believe those questions are worth answering, regardless of who owns the property,” Van Dusen said.  The church will be ordered to halt construction and bear the cost of restoring the site to its previous condition if the Utah Supreme Court rules in favor of Van Dusen and his fellow Red Ledges residents.  The post Red Ledges resident breaks silence ahead of Utah Supreme Court Heber Valley Temple arguments appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less