Jeff Rogan on City Planning and the Lone Mountain Temple Controversy

City planning may not be the most glamorous topic, but it’s one that could have the greatest impact on your day-to-day life. With that in mind, the Las Vegas City Council is considering a site development plan review tomorrow for a proposed temple by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Lone Mountain community. City of Las Vegas Planning Commissioner Jeff Rogan addresses the issue and how residents can successfully oppose unwanted developments in their own neighborhoods.

What's the most contentious topic you've heard debated at a Planning Commission meeting?

“Oh, this is easy. It’s the Lone Mountain Temple. The LDS Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) owned a big parcel of land in the Northwest Valley near Lone Mountain for a long time. And they wanted to build a new temple here in Las Vegas … It's a very large structure, has a lot of lights, and it’s near a lot of residential properties that have a lot of open space. (Residents) are not used to such large buildings with a lot of light. So they’ve organized and opposed the structure being built near their homes.”

So what exactly is a Planning Commission?

“We're really just an advisory board. Most of the issues that would go before the City Council regarding planning — special-use permits, variances, planning maps, things like that — come before a Planning Commission. We'll discuss them and make a recommendation to the City Council or at the county level, to the (Clark) County Commission. Sometimes applications that come before us are final action, meaning we're the final arbiter of whether your sober living home (for example) should go into a neighborhood or not.”

What kind of public comments from concerned residents are the most impactful at a Planning Commission meeting?

“Comments supported by facts. For example, ‘Hey, we already have three of these in our neighborhood. Putting four in here is a burden that we shouldn't have to bear’ … Things that are less impactful? We often hear ‘traffic.’ … We don't have as much congestion as New York, Boston, or other cities on the East Coast, but people will come in against applications and say, ‘Well, the traffic is going to be horrendous. Don't put this in.’ It just depends on the use or request before us as to whether we give more or less weight to a particular point of view the neighbors are presenting.”