The Heber Valley Temple lawsuit is a Utah land-use challenge brought by four neighbors who argue Wasatch County unlawfully approved the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ plan for a roughly 88,000-square-foot temple with a 210-foot steeple in a residential zone capped at 35 feet. A state district judge ruled for the county and the Church in July 2025. The Utah Supreme Court lifted a construction injunction in February 2026, letting foundation work resume, but the underlying appeal over whether the approval itself was legal has not been decided.
Who Filed the Lawsuit and What They Argue
The suit was filed on November 29, 2023, three weeks after the Wasatch County Council unanimously approved the project. The four plaintiffs — Bruce Van Dusen, Bruce Quade, Shawn Savarino, and Dominic Savarino — live in the Red Ledges neighborhood across East Center Street from the 18-acre site. They are represented by attorney Robert Mansfield.1KPCW. Residents Sue Wasatch County Over Heber Valley Temple Approval
The lawsuit does not target the temple as a religious use. Mansfield has said his clients are “not opposed to the temple itself” but object to a structure that “so dramatically violates the height and mass restrictions for the subject zone.”2Deseret News. Church Temple Court Motion Stop Construction Heber Valley Their core legal theories are:
- The county engaged in impermissible spot zoning by giving the Church special treatment on a single parcel.
- The county improperly used a legislative development agreement rather than the standard conditional-use permit process to sidestep zoning obstacles.
- The approval violated the Utah County Land Use, Development, and Management Act because it was inconsistent with the county’s general plan.3Park Record. The Heber Valley Temple Lawsuit Might Be Coming to an Early End
The residents also raised concerns about a 210-foot structure in a zone with a 35-foot height ceiling, noise and light pollution, obstructed valley views, traffic, and environmental damage from construction dewatering on a high water table.4Park Record. Red Ledges Residents Call for Appeal With Utah Supreme Court on Heber Valley Temple Ruling
What the County Actually Did
Under Wasatch County code, churches are a conditional use in the RA-1 single-family residential zone where the temple sits. Rather than route the project through the standard conditional-use permit process, the County Attorney’s office recommended a legislative development agreement — a negotiated instrument that converts a conditional use into a permitted use on agreed terms. That agreement, enacted as Ordinance 23-16, made the temple and its height permitted, set new lighting standards, required Center Street road improvements and a Church-funded roundabout, and expressly declared the county’s ridgeline and viewshed regulations inapplicable to the site. County staff cited the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act as one reason to negotiate rather than litigate over conditions.5Utah.gov. Wasatch County Staff Report – Heber Valley Temple
The Planning Commission recommended approval on October 25, 2023, and the County Council unanimously approved the development agreement, final plat, and site plan on November 8, 2023.6KSL. Wasatch County Officials Recommend Approval of Heber Valley Temple Despite Community Divide The residents’ suit followed weeks later.
The District Court Ruling: July 2025
On July 23, 2025, Fourth District Judge Jennifer A. Mabey granted full summary judgment to the Church and partial summary judgment to Wasatch County, effectively dismissing the residents’ claims.7ABC4. Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Heber Valley Temple
Judge Mabey rejected the spot-zoning theory on the ground that the property had not been rezoned at all: the existing zoning already permitted churches as a conditional use, and the development agreement operated within that framework rather than creating a new zone for a single parcel. She found the county had provided “ample notice” of the development agreement in language ordinary community members could understand, and that the plaintiffs had not shown the ordinance was preempted by or contrary to state or federal law.
On the general-plan consistency claim, Judge Mabey applied what she described as a “highly deferential standard of review” for legislative land-use decisions and held that the plaintiffs had not overcome it. The use, she wrote, was “reasonably debatable” as consistent with the county code. She noted no evidence the temple would decrease property values and observed that “the court is hard-pressed to think of any church or business that serves 100% of the County’s population.” She also acknowledged the county had considered RLUIPA as one factor among many.8KPCW. Judge’s Ruling Clears Way for Heber Valley Temple
The Appeal and the Injunction Fight
The Church began construction in August 2025 under a building permit the county said had been issued nearly two years earlier.9KPCW. Heber Valley Temple Construction Begins in Wasatch County The Red Ledges plaintiffs appealed Judge Mabey’s ruling directly to the Utah Supreme Court and obtained an injunction halting work while the appeal proceeded. Judge Mabey set the plaintiffs’ injunction bond at $10,000, well below the $7.5 million to $11.4 million the Church argued was needed to cover cost increases from delay.10Justia. Van Dusen v. Wasatch County, 2026 UT 1
Oral Arguments in December 2025
The Utah Supreme Court heard argument on December 8, 2025, on whether the injunction should stay in place. Justice Paige Petersen presided, joined by Justice Diana Hagen, Justice John Nielsen, and two substitutes — Utah Court of Appeals Judge David Mortensen and Second District Judge Camille Neider — sitting for recused Justices Matthew Durrant and Jill Pohlman.11Deseret News. Heber Valley Temple Utah Supreme Court Oral Arguments
Church attorney David Jordan argued the residents’ cited harms — traffic, lighting, noise — all concerned an operating temple, not the construction phase. He told the court the Church was willing to accept the risk of tearing the building down if it lost on the merits, saying “buildings get torn down all the time.” He put the cost of a 12-month construction stall at $7.8 million, rising to $11.4 million over 18 months.12KPCW. Church Attorneys Ask Utah Supreme Court for Permission to Build Heber Valley Temple
Mansfield urged the court to hold the injunction, calling the appeal one of “first impression” and pointing to potential harm to the local water table from foundation work on a floodplain. He called the Church’s proposed larger bond “overly restrictive” and not feasible for his clients. Wasatch County Deputy Attorney Jonathan Woodard defended the county’s legislative findings on environmental and community impacts.13Park Record. Utah Supreme Court Considers Heber Valley Temple Appeal
The February 2026 Ruling
On February 5, 2026, the Utah Supreme Court issued its opinion in Van Dusen v. Wasatch County, 2026 UT 1, lifting the injunction and allowing construction to resume. Justice Petersen wrote for a unanimous five-judge panel.10Justia. Van Dusen v. Wasatch County, 2026 UT 1
The court held that the residents had not shown irreparable harm, meaning an injury that “cannot be adequately compensated in damages” or by other legal relief even if they eventually win. Concerns about privacy, light, noise, traffic, and long-term environmental impact were tied to a completed, operating temple rather than the construction itself. “Inconvenience or temporary changes to the land” did not meet the standard, the court said, particularly where the Church had explicitly accepted the financial risk of tearing the building down and restoring the site if the residents prevail on appeal.14KPCW. Utah Supreme Court: Heber Temple Construction Can Proceed
The ruling is narrow. The court decided the injunction question under Utah Rule of Appellate Procedure 8, which governs motions to suspend an injunction pending appeal, and did not reach the merits of whether the county’s approval was lawful.10Justia. Van Dusen v. Wasatch County, 2026 UT 1
Where Construction Stands
The Church announced it would restart utility and grading work immediately after the February 2026 opinion. Woodard said the county would continue defending its original approval, and Mansfield said his clients remained committed to appellate review of the underlying legal issues.15Park Record. Utah Supreme Court OKs Heber Valley Temple Construction
Later that month, Utah’s Division of Water Rights approved the drilling of 20 dewatering wells at the site to handle the shallow groundwater found roughly 10 feet below the surface. Water pumped from the wells is collected and discharged into Lake Creek and must meet quality standards equal to or better than the receiving waterway.16KPCW. Heber Valley Temple Cleared to Drill 20 Dewatering Wells As of late May 2026, all 20 dewatering wells were installed, a lean concrete slab had been poured, and underground plumbing for mechanical and drainage systems had been laid beneath it. Work was still below grade, with the site being prepared for structural foundations. No public completion date has been announced.17Church of Jesus Christ Temples. Heber Valley Utah Temple News
What Is Still Unresolved
The February 2026 ruling settled only whether the Church could keep building during the appeal. The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the merits question the residents pressed: whether Wasatch County lawfully approved the temple through a legislative development agreement rather than a conditional-use permit, and whether the approval was consistent with the county’s general plan. The appeal remains in its briefing phase.18Deseret News. Heber Valley Temple Wins Utah Supreme Court Ruling
If the residents ultimately win, the record already contains the Church’s acknowledgment that it would bear the cost of restoring the site to its prior condition. The Supreme Court noted that acceptance when it lifted the injunction, but the question of what a merits ruling would actually require of the Church has not been litigated.
Related Temple Disputes Elsewhere
The Heber Valley fight is not unique. A resident group called Preserve Our Cody Neighborhoods challenged Cody, Wyoming’s approval of a temple with a 101-foot tower in a rural residential zone; the Wyoming Supreme Court rejected the suit in June 2025 as filed outside the 30-day appeal window.19Cody Enterprise. Wyoming Supreme Court Rejects Temple Lawsuit In Fairview, Texas, homeowners organized as “Fairview United” sued in June 2025 after the town council approved a temple with a 120-foot spire on a 5-2 vote, arguing that a formal protest by more than 20% of nearby owners should have triggered a supermajority requirement under Texas law.20Houston Chronicle. Fairview United Lawsuit LDS Temple Construction is proceeding in both places while the litigation continues.21NBC DFW. Fairview Mayor Asks LDS Church Reconsider Temple Steeple Height
A separate early Heber Valley challenge — a suit by Save Wasatch Back Dark Skies against the county’s 2023 outdoor-lighting amendments — is no longer active. That group voluntarily dismissed its case on February 20, 2024, after an initial dismissal in November 2023.22Park Record. Lights Out for Save Wasatch Back Dark Skies Lawsuit Against Wasatch County The Red Ledges residents’ appeal is now the only pending litigation over the Heber Valley project.