CODY, Wyo. - The group seeking to stop construction of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints temple in a Cody neighborhood has filed a lawsuit in district court.
The Preserve Our Cody Neighborhoods organization Monday filed the petition to review the conditional use permit issued by the Cody Planning and Zoning Board in June. Group spokesman Terry Skinner says they plan to file another appeal against the board’s recent approval of the temple site plan soon.
Skinner said they were reluctant to file the appeal but felt the Planning and Zoning board had violated city codes.
Skinner said the church's plans to build the temple with a 101-foot high lighted tower in the Skyview neighborhood presented several problems, including, “traffic, taking up viewscapes in neighborhoods, dark night skies, and ignoring zoning rules of Cody and the Cody master plan.”
His group gathered nearly 1,000 signatures in a petition against the temple location. LDS church members say it is their constitutional right of freedom of religion to build the temple.
Skinner says his group is not against the construction of a temple in Cody. He said they are opposed to the construction of the Temple in the Skyview neighborhood.
The LDS Church has also filed a lawsuit against another Planning and Zoning board decision.
The City of Cody has not issued a building permit yet.
