Mormon leaders win battle to build spire atop temple
Nashville TN Tennessean 31Jan99
By Kathrin Chavez: Tennessean Staff Writer

FRANKLIN -- The Williamson County Board of Zoning Appeals granted the LDS Church's request for a height variance, allowing the Church to put a steeple on the Temple planned for the Nashville area. The variance ends a four-year saga in which the Church first tried to build a Temple in the Forest Hills suburb of Nashville, only to have planning officials thwart rezoning requests.

However, the new site has its opponents also. Beverly Howell, who lives behind the property, told the Tennessean, "It does not seem to meld with the character that currently exists. It's not that we're trying to impinge on religious freedom, we're not trying to do that. We just don't think it's the proper location for this tower."

However, Allan Soderquist, bishop of the Franklin Ward, told the Board that it had approved a variance in 1987 for a nearly 100-foot steeple on a nearby Methodist Church. The LDS Temple's steeple will be just 35 feet on top of a 35-foot building.

In the end, the Board approved the variance. The Nashville Temple, at 10,000 square feet, will be one of the smaller temples, a change from the 60,000 square-foot building originally proposed for Forest Hills.