Property law and Mormon temple announcements

Last Saturday's announcement of five new LDS temples was notable, if not for quantity, then locality. President Thomas S. Monson's predecessor, Gordon B. Hinckley, announced several dozen temples during his tenure as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But the locations these most recent temples are well-known and high-profile: Rome, Italy; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the greater Kansas City area, among others. Rome is obviously a high-profile location, particularly given its proximity to the seat of Catholicism. A temple in the Kansas City area makes many people think of the temple in Independence, Missouri, which was announced by Joseph Smith in 1831 but never built. And the Philadelphia site is notable for its central location in a major American city.


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The site of the Philadelphia temple has already been identified as a parking lot the Church currently owns. For every temple or chapel announcement, there are hundreds of hours of quiet work in the background arranging the property sales. Temple building projects occasionally spark legal battles over issues such as zoning requirements. The opposition to the Mormon temple near Boston, Massachusetts, prevented the LDS Church from placing a steeple on the structure until after it was dedicated and in operation. Only time will tell whether these most recent announcements will result in any litigation, but you can be sure that the Church's property arm, Property Reserve, Inc., will be working overtime to get it all done.