Opponents of the Mormon Temple say they have enough signatures to put it on the ballot

The city council recently allowed the Mormons to build a large new temple in far northwest Phoenix ten feet higher than the zoning allows. Since because of a crazy federal law the city can’t restrict the height of steeples, the church is free to stick an 86-foot high steeple atop the temple itself, whatever the hieght of the underlying building.

The neighborhood has been mad about the entirely unnecessary extra accommodation given to the church, particularly when its steeple was already incredibly tall, and has apparently done the work to put the issue on the ballot next year. (The next local general election is September 2011.)

PHXated’s position, articulated at length here, is that the Mormon Church spends far too much of its time trying to stop gays from getting married. It’s within their rights to take the position, of course. Under our political system, you’re allowed to call yourself a church and collect money from parishioners by saying you’re going to feed the poor and then turn around and use it to take away peoples’ civil rights.

You could say that a church should be on the side of tolerance not intolerance; that it shouldn’t be allied with the wrenching and destructive and sometimes deadly targeting of gays in America. But, as I said, that’s the way our system works.

I’m not saying the Mormons shouldn’t be allowed to build their temple. But one inch taller than the zoning allows? No way.

There’s no reason the city should give special dispensation to bigots.

According to the Republic, once the signatures are certified, the matter returns to the city council for reconsideration. If the council chooses to ignore it, the matter would go onto the ballot next year, unless there’s a special election. The story doesn’t say if the church is prohibiting from building until then.