BREAKING TEMPLE UPDATE: KSL Provides Status Update on Tooele Valley Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! During the recently-concluded hor-long newscast at 6, KSL provided more contextual information about the  Tooele Valley Utah Temple and the issues that could impact the timing of construction for it. Although I presently have no source from KSl for the information they provided today, I will be sure to add that to this blog post when I have it. At the end of the first full week in April, the Church had released the artist's rendering for three temples, including the Tooele Valley Utah Temple. Less than a month later (on May 5 of this year), renderings of the  residential community  which was being planned by the Church's real estate investment arm were released.

According to the information KSL shared in their on-air story today, the temple had been planned to complement and contribute to the look and feel of that residential development, in such a way that there would be a visual coordination between the two. In the interim, residents have, as previously noted, been working on gathering signatures that would put the residential development on the ballot. What those who are excited about the temple and have no objections to that part of the plan fail to realize is that, if the initiative successfully gets on the ballot, any unity of opposition to the development would in turn impact the design and probable timing for construction of the temple itself.

So where does that initiative stand currently? A fair number of signatures have been gathered already, and the petition is apparently generating support. But the clock is ticking for the signature gathering process, which must be completed and have the signatures appropriately verified by Saturday August 15 to ensure that the initiative is successfully placed on the ballot for community input in the November elections. f the requisite number of signatures are not gathered and verified by that date, then the matter will not be placed on the ballot, and the Church could then have a groundbreaking for the temple as anticipated either in late August or early September, with the development going forward as planned, and the temple keeping its' exterior design.

Conversely, if sufficient signatures are gathered and certified by that August 15 deadline, then the initiative would likely be put to a vote in November. In the interim, the Church would then have two options. 
The first would be to wait on the outcome of the vote before adjusting the design of the residential development (which might perhaps also involve a redesign of the temple's exterior becoming necessary). The second option may be to initiate the process of making those changes to the plans so that, regardless of the outcome of that election, the Church would be ready to act ASAP on beginning construction for both the temple and the community. The key to the timing and details of the temple's construction appears to be dependent on the outcome of the initiative. As I noted earlier, some residents have made it clear that they want the temple, and are pleased with the interior and exterior renderings for it, but that they worry that a high-density residential community being built in conjunction with the temple would cause Erda to lose much of its' small-town way of life.

I guess I can understand that part of the argument. However, what I don't get is wwhy, when community input has been sought in every stage of this project's approval, there seems to be wide-spread objection to the overall plan for that part of Erda where there did not seem to be any of that before. Again, I will either update this post or provide a follow-up comment in the threads thereof once I have the KSL report on this story that was provided on-air today. In the meantime, I do continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates, including the latest on this Tooele Valley Utah Temple process, and will be sure to bring word of those to you all here as I become aware of such developments.

That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.