A town council’s vote to reject the plans for the McKinney Texas Temple filed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, according to a letter to the council from the attorney representing the church.
The Fairview Town Council unanimously denied a conditional use permit for the temple after a four-hour meeting on Aug. 6. Fairview and McKinney are neighboring suburbs within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and the proposed temple site is in Fairview.
Fairview’s conditional use permit process is “highly subjective” and creates a “substantial burden” to the religious exercise of the church and its members that runs afoul of the First Amendment, federal and state law and court precedents, according to the letter from the church’s attorneys, Richard Abernathy and Jared Pace of McKinney law firm of Abernathy Roeder Boyd Hullet.
“Nothing in the Town of Fairview’s Code of Ordinances would justify denying the church’s application,” the attorney’s wrote in the letter, which was sent to the mayor and each member of the council. “The town’s staff report correctly concludes that the church meets all legal requirements necessary for approval.”