The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has decided to build a Temple in Cody. A Temple is not just a church. To LDS members, also known as Mormons, it has a special purpose and a special construction.
That construction has drawn criticism from neighbors because its large lighted tower will be more than 100 feet tall from the ground. That’s about the height of a ten story building in a rural neighborhood. The town of Cody doesn’t have a ten story building. But, hundreds of LDS members in northwest Wyoming want the temple in its proposed location.
The site where the Temple would be built sits on a hill with magnificent views of Heart Mountain to the north, and Rattlesnake and Cedar Mountains, which overlook the Yellowstone Highway, to the West. The land was donated by a church member.
Another Church member, Luke Hopkin, said temples are different from chapels or churches.
“They have a specific use. They’re generally just used during the week. Smaller groups of people go at a time,” Hopkin said.
The closest temple currently is in Billings, a two hour drive away. Hopkin said Temples are constructed differently, too. They are meant to be like a beacon.
“The temple’s meant to point towards God. It’s a one story building that’s about 26 feet tall, but it does have a steeple that is about 101 feet tall,” he said.
The steeple has also been called a spire, or tower. The tower proposed for Cody has four sides.
“About 17 feet wide by 17 feet wide. It extends off the roof of the building…and has a cupola at the top that looks like it will be a brass, gold color,” Hopkins said, describing what the steeple is planned to look like in Cody.
Hopkin said the Temple towers are usually illuminated by lights that shine up on them toward the sky.
Terry Skinner is a member of a group called Preserve our Cody Neighborhoods. He lives near the proposed Temple site. Most of the homes in his neighborhood and others nearby are large and expensive.
They have a view of the mountains. Many neighbors are concerned the church will leave the light on 24 hours.
“This is a big issue because people are very possessive of the dark night skies, and it’s very important to them,” Skinner said.
Dianne Kaelberer is another member of the Preserve Our Cody Neighborhoods group.
“That is not the location for a bright temple that is going to encroach on neighbors,” she said.
Kaelberer and Skinner said they are not against the temple in Cody, they just think it belongs somewhere else.
“One might ask where can one put a hundred foot tall tower church in an applicable zone where they wouldn’t have to go through a conditional use permit or a special exemption for the height,” Skinner said. “That answer’s pretty easy. It’s a D3 commercial zone.”
That would be anywhere in downtown Cody, or where there are businesses already.
Skinner’s group has passed petitions and posted signs around the neighborhood that say, “Relocate the Temple.”
They’ve also been active at planning and zoning meetings. The first one reportedly lasted six hours, with dozens of people speaking for and against the Temple construction in its current location.
During the second meeting in late June, more than a hundred people came. One was Jessica Wille.
“I am for bringing people to God in any capacity,” Wille said. “And, I’m also for just following the laws. And when I went to these meetings, I realized that everything is in accordance with the laws.”
According to Sean Carter, who works for the City of Cody Building Department, Wille is right.
In the latest Planning and Zoning meeting, he told the board, “If they are constructing the Temple Tower out of what we consider non-combustible construction, it can be unlimited in height.”
That’s because a rooftop structure is exempt from Cody height restrictions. But, some of the board members disagreed with Carter’s definition of the large tower as a rooftop structure.
The board approved the conditional use permit for the Temple but denied the special exemption for the height of the building’s tower.
They accepted an offer from Greg Rasmussen, representative of LDS Headquarters in Salt Lake City to “work on a development agreement with the city.”
Once that agreement is settled, it will be brought back to the Planning and Zoning Board. Meanwhile, people on both sides of the controversy say they are encouraged that their concerns are being heard.
But some people are still concerned that the City Planner working on this proposal is a member of the LDS Church. Planner Todd Stowell declined to comment on his perceived bias.
A rendering of the proposed Cody Temple construction can be found on the City of Cody website.
