A handful of Cody residents gathered on Skyline Drive Saturday night around a massive truck that had a crane affixed on the back. The crane, with an American flag on it’s top, was raised slowly into the cool night air to represent the height of the spire of the proposed new temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
4.9 acres on Skyline Drive for proposed LDS temple site. (Photo courtesy of Mac Watson).
A handmade sign was attached to saw horses that read “Preserve Our Cody Neighborhoods,” and a man holding a petition that already had a number of signatures on it, watched silently as the crane hoisted the flag high into the air.
Attached to the top of the crane, aside from the flag, was a set of lights.
Light as seen from Yellowstone Avenue. (Photo courtesy of Mac Watson).
The group had done this demonstration weeks before, with the same crane and the same flag, but that was in the afternoon. This time the demonstration was held at dusk into the night to let people see how the temple would look when the proposed 100-foot spire would be lit up, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.
Since the announcement of the proposed temple, a public meeting from the City of Cody as well as a meeting at the LDS church across from the Rec Center has been postponed and rescheduled. New dates have been set and in the short amount of time that the proposed announcement has been made, a growing number of people in Cody are wondering how the building of a temple will impact the aesthetic look as well as the traffic on Skyline Drive as well as Stampede Avenue.
The residents on Skyline Drive say this is more than a NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) complaint, more than the disappearance of their picturesque views of Heart and Cedar Mountains; it’s about setting a precedent that could impact other areas of Cody, like downtown. The group says their goal is to “retain architectural integrity of our neighborhoods, protect the night skies, safeguard our traffic corridors, value wildlife habitat and adhere to the Cody Masterplan,” according to their Facebook page.
Crane on Skyline Drive set up by Protect Our Cody Neighborhoods group. (Photo courtesy of Mac Watson).
“Who’s to say that this won’t lead to building a 10-story condo unit downtown, or an office building “[that is higher than the 30-foot building rule in the Masterplan],” said one resident at the crane site who was worried the exemptions would set a “precedent” and alter the look of Cody in the future.
The crux of the group’s argument against building an LDS temple on a 4.9 acre lot that has been designated as “rural” land by Planning and Zoning” is not about religion or beliefs. The group says it’s a direct attack on the Cody Masterplan. The Masterplan, developed decades ago, basically reads as a set of guidelines of how the town of Cody should “look.” For instance, the Masterplan states that no building should be built over 30 feet. The spire on the proposed temple would be over three times that height.
The Masterplan for Cody also states that nothing should bring unnecessary artificial light to the night sky. That is why during Saturday night’s demonstration a series of lights were attached to the crane and hoisted into the air to make their point about light pollution.
Another resident says the effect on traffic patterns “need to be formally studied” as it would be situated just off a dangerous intersection that leads down the hill to Cody proper. The concern is to what impact and how much traffic would the new temple bring to Skyline Drive as the temple would be used Tuesday through Saturday for religious services and educational purposes of the Mormon religion, not just on Sundays.
In the Latter Day Saint movement, a temple is a building reserved for special forms of worship, differing from a church meetinghouse, which is used for weekly worship services. Temples have been a significant part of the Latter Day Saint religion since its early inception. Temples are operated by several Latter Day Saint denominations with the most prolific builder of temples of the Latter Day Saint movement is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Currently, the Mormon church has 315 temples in various phases, which includes 177 dedicated temples (with 172 currently operating and 5 previously-dedicated, but closed for renovation), 58 currently under construction, and 81 others announced (not yet under construction).
