The left side of the room was predominantly occupied by people wearing white. They represented The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is trying to build a temple on Stacy Road in Fairview. The right side of the room was a sea of green T-shirts that read “Fairview United.” The greens represented the opposition and were composed of locals who believe the height of the proposed building (173 feet) will obstruct views and cast shadows in the surrounding residential area, among other zoning and environmental concerns.
Outside Accasia’s Event Venue, where the meeting was being held (it was moved from the Town Hall building down the street and made a ticketed event due to demand), hundreds showed up with picket signs and lawn chairs to support their respective sides.
Among the opposition was Fairview resident Maria Nevils, who brought a poster board sign with the words “NO to Religious Bullying” written with a Sharpie.
“I feel like our small town is being bullied,” Nevils says. “The Mormon church is a billion-dollar religious organization. The town of Fairview has maybe 10,000 people. They tax us to run the city. They don’t tax us to fend off lawsuits. I feel like it’s very David and Goliath.”
Maria Nevils says she showed up in white to beat the heat, not show solidarity with the proposed temple.
Carly May Gravley
While church officials have remained adamant that their plans are on par with city standards, members of Fairview United remain skeptical. The group's website and newsletters contain countless pages of information, including news articles on reported harm done to small towns by the church, renderings depicting how the temple might look in its proposed location and comparisons between the temple’s steeple and landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the Buc-ee’s sign in Melissa.
Fairview United organizer Ben Brown shares Nevils’ feelings of being strong-armed.
“This is their way they do things,” Brown tells us. “They go into a small town and say, ‘We're going to build this temple. You cannot stop us.’ Matter of fact.”
Brown describes an open house the church held to build support for the temple in May.
“They put on a nice little dog and pony show,” he says. “‘Here's why we're doing this. It's wonderful. You'll like it.’ But the last guy they put on the program was their lawyer. He basically stood up and said, ‘If you don't let us do this, we're going to sue you.’”
The church’s attorney, Richard Abernathy, was present at the Town Council meeting on Tuesday and made a lengthy case for the proposed temple and touched on his theories about the root of the pushback.
“It’s a beautiful town. A lot of good things happen in Fairview,” he said to the crowd. “This is inconsistent with what I think the town is about.”
He claimed that the church had been receiving “differential treatment” from the town, citing the concerns surrounding the temple and more minor policies like the rule against streaming in that evening’s meeting as arbitrary and potentially discriminatory.
“I don’t think there’s any objective basis for you to deny this zoning request,” he told the council.
Abernathy used sexually oriented businesses in Fairview as evidence of a double standard, as they apparently did not require special permits to operate. He also noted that unlike these businesses, churches were declared essential services by Gov. Greg Abbott during the pandemic.
“That sure looks like discrimination, and it sure appears unlawful,” Abernathy said.
The idea of the temple being essential was echoed by Jodie Libert, a member of the church who traveled with her children from Argyle to support the temple. She explained the significance of a temple as opposed to the regular weekly meeting house, which Fairview already has.
Whereas a Sunday service is mostly made up of sermons and lessons, more intimate and sacred ceremonies take place in temples, Libert says.
“It’s a place where we can go to make covenants with God,” she says. “In our church, we believe that families can be sealed to be together forever and that ordinance can only take place in a temple. We believe that that temple is God’s house and that families can be together not just in this life, but for eternity. And that’s just a beautiful thought.”
A common complaint throughout this process is that an outpouring of support for the temple has come from outside of Fairview. One figure cited during the meeting was that of the more than 15,000 pieces of correspondence the town has received about the temple, 489 were from Fairview residents and only 52 residents expressed support for the temple.
Though Libert lives almost an hour away, she says the temple in Fairview will play a large role in her life.
“Some days, we can’t get in because it’s too full,” she says of the existing temple in Dallas. “Having another temple will allow us to be able to attend more.”
Other worshipers attested to the temple’s value to area commuters, as did the church itself.
Around 400 people attended the Fairview Town Council meeting, with hundreds more gathered outside.
Carly May Gravley
The meeting ran late, with scores of two-minute remarks from the public running back-to-back from 8:30 p.m. until around 11:30 p.m. Fairview resident Henry Lessner was one speaker who had firm words of warning to the church.
“If the town of Fairview and its residents are somehow forced to accept this misplaced, gigantic building, thousands of folks from this area passing by that building every day will only see and remember the legacy of LDS arrogance,” he said. “I suspect that is not the legacy you want to leave.”
The Town Council ultimately voted against the church’s request for a conditional-use permit.
“The church has met all the requirements required by the city to build a temple which will provide a place of peace and beauty for the community. The council’s decision to vote against the temple rests solely on its discretionary view of the building’s aesthetics,” Stice wrote in a statement to the press shortly after the decision. “Tonight’s vote is part of an ongoing process. Seeking building approval which will be continued as part of the church’s religious freedom efforts.”
