Thursday, December 3, 2009

The Phoenix Temple

As most of you know, yesterday was the City Council meeting for the Phoenix Temple. And as all of you may know it was approved unanimously, yeah!!! But you may not know that the oppositions fight is far from over. As I have attended these meetings, I am pretty bothered at the extent of hatred these people have for this beautiful building, the Lords Temple. The fact is is that the church owns the property and can build a temple on it. The only reason we have been through this process is because the building ordinance only allows a 30' structure and the temple is 40'. So the church is asking the city for approval of only 10 extra feet. That's it, 10 feet, not approval to build. *Major side note: steeples, spires, bell towers etc., are not restricted at all. They can be as high as you want want. So, is the neighborhood in a frenzy over 10 feet???? No, they are in a frenzy over the temple being built at all. They are hoping that if they huff and they puff they will blow this temple away. Here are the huffs and puffs....

1. Traffic - The neighborhood is very concerned that the temple will cause major traffic issues. It's a legit concern I admit. However.....What they don't understand is that traffic into the temple is more of a trickle then a down poor. This isn't a church that has a couple of meeting times a week and needs cops to control the traffic. But more importantly, a traffic study has been done and the traffic engineers have found no concern for the traffic in this area being effected by the temple. Neighbors, do you know what this means???? The City actually has engineers who's job is to study traffic. They are professional traffic studiererers. So if they say traffic won't be an issue then TRAFFIC WON'T BE AN ISSUE!!

2. Lighting - It's true that all temples are lit up at night. And this neighborhood does have a dark sky ordinance. There are no street lights in the neighborhood because the people like to see the stars. So again, this is a legit concern. However....This temple is not going to be lit up like the Mesa, Salt Lake, San Diego, or even Gilbert Temples. The lighting is going to be much less as to comply to the dark sky ordinance. Did you hear that neighbors???? It complies with the dark sky ordinance!!! We did that just for you and we are even going to turn them off an hour early for you. Happy now??? Of course you're not.

Now a new concern about the lighting was brought up last night and this is just way to good not to mention. A new opposer came to speak. She supposedly represents the Friends of Thunderbird Park. Her concern was that the lighting on the temple was going to cause the extinction of at least 4 different species in the park. What??? And it was also going to cause breast cancer in women. Okay, I know I'm no scientist but I'm a little more concerned about the 150 foot power lines that run through the neighborhood causing cancer, not the temple lights. Oh yeah, and did I mention they are in compliance with the dark sky ordinance?

3. Blocked views - This is a beautiful area surrounded by mountains. I too would love to have panoramic views of the mountains. But I don't. My views are blocked by houses, RV garages and the hundreds and hundreds of mature trees in the neighborhood. I dare say only about 25% of the homes in the area will even be able to see the spier of the temple. Only about 5% will be able to see the actual building. And really, how much of a mountain does a spier block? Lean to the left, lean to the right and you'll see the whole mountain, I promise.

4. It just doesn't fit in with the neighborhood - Well of course it doesn't fit in to our neighborhood people. It's the House of the Lord. There is not a neighborhood in America or on this entire planet that a temple "fits" in to. It is a majestic, glorious, beautiful, sacred, serene building. Of none comparison to anything else on this planet. Any neighborhood is extremely lucky (I prefer blessed) to have one.

And so you have it then, the major concerns of the opposition. They are currently working to collect over 9,000 legit signatures in 30 days. If they succeed it will force the rezoning to go to the ballot so the voters can decide. Thus, pushing back the project and hoping the church will give up and go somewhere else. Please keep this temple in your prayers. The fight is not over yet. Pray that hearts may be softened and the Lord's temple can be built.

4 comments:

Rae Lynn said...

Wow! It is amazing what people will do and/or say. Thank you for being so involved Becca and informing all of us of what is truly going on. It is comforting to know that the Lord's work will go on!

Misha said...

So ridiculous the excuses they are making. It reminds me of a meeting I went to years ago when they were trying to get the building by Mountain Ridge H.S. built. The church eventually did build it, as they will the temple too, I'm sure. Hey, we're going to be coming home for Christmas. We'll have to get together while we're in town.

Monica said...

LOVE the update. I haven't heard what the complaints are. Thanks for helping me stay informed. Even my Catholic cousin is praying for this temple to go up.

Jeanerbee said...

Thank you so much for posting this info! I've been out of the loop about it... we will certainly remember this in our prayers as well. What a beautiful drawing too... maybe we could be tempted to come back to Phx and find a place out near you guys! =)