Anaheim Hills : Envoy Sent to Utah to Oppose Mormons’ Plan

Residents of Anaheim Hills opposed to the building of a Mormon church in their neighborhood are sending a homeowner to Salt Lake City to try to persuade the church hierarchy to withdraw its plans.

Sharon Achs, treasurer of the Anaheim Hills Citizens Coalition, said the envoy, Brent Jones, would meet today with Jerry Cahill, director of public communications for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Achs said the coalition is made up of six homeowner associations in the Anaheim Hills area, united against the proposed building of a Mormon church on 11 acres of land in the 400 block of Fairmont Boulevard.

Achs said 420 homeowners surrounding the property are opposed to the church plan, calling it environmentally unsound, dangerous because it would generate increased traffic, and a violation of the general plan for the residential development of the area.

The proposed church was twice denied permits by the Anaheim Planning Commission, which cited traffic concerns and a negative local impact. But on April 21 the City Council, by a 3-0 vote with one abstention, overrode the Planning Commission.