The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could begin preparations for a new temple proposed in Yorba Linda as early as mid-June. It would be the ninth temple the church has built in California, the second in Orange County.

City officials recently approved the demolition of the church’s meetinghouse at Bastanchury Road and Osmond Street, along with a neighboring baseball field, but the larger temple’s design, which includes a nearly 60-foot tall steeple, and other needed permits for construction still need to go through the approval process.

“We’re very excited about this project,” Art Francis, the church’s communication director for the local Anaheim Coordinating Council, said.

LDS Church leaders announced plans to build the new temple in Yorba Linda last April – it is one of 20 new locations planned world wide – to serve north Orange County members, following the 2005 completion of its Newport Beach Temple. There are also temples in Los Angeles, San Diego and Redlands.

While the church’s meetinghouse on Bastanchury Road has been used for weekly worship services and fellowship for about 30 years, Francis said the construction of the 30,000-square-foot temple will completely change the type of gatherings held at the location. The temple would serve a larger geographical area – LDS members within an 18-square-mile radius – and be used only for the church’s most sacred ceremonies, such as marriages, instead of regular gatherings.

David Brantley, the city’s community development coordinator, said the temple’s plans are scheduled to go before Yorba Linda’s traffic and planning commissions in the next few weeks. He said city officials are still working with church planners on a few details, such as additions to its traffic study and confirming some water quality and drainage information, but he expects those issues will be cleared up soon.

At a March council meeting, some nearby residents expressed concern about the potential for a lag between the upcoming demolition and when construction starts, if something were to cause delay in the design review process, while others were worried about increased traffic and dust and noise during construction. Some told council members they felt left in the dark about the large project coming to their neighborhood.

“Given the possible height, and this is going to be a larger structure, one that can be seen from some distance away, perhaps it’s a good idea to have the surrounding neighborhood be noticed,” Council Member Peggy Huang said at the March 15 meeting. “We want our neighbors to be active and involved in it.”

LDS leaders agreed to expand the radius of neighbors to whom notifications of meetings will be sent from the typical 300 feet to 500 feet, Francis said. He said the church also has held two public outreach meetings in the past month, each of which brought out about 100 neighbors to hear about the project and ask questions.

“We want to make sure we’re good neighbors and trying to facilitate a building that would fit in the architecture of our community, but also be very distinctive for an LDS building,” Francis said. He also said the church’s research does not show an increase in traffic, compared to current levels from the meetinghouse.

“We’re waiting to make sure everything else is approved, if everything is approved then we will have our groundbreaking event on the 18th of June,” Francis said, which is about a month after the council is expected to review the plans May 11. “We’re very excited to have this go forward.”

The city’s traffic commission will review the project April 28.

​​If construction begins as hoped, Francis said it is expected to take a little more than two years.

After it’s complete, the temple would host an open house for the public to view and tour the sacred building. But once it’s officially dedicated, Francis said only active members will be allowed inside as is tradition.

Related Articles