Salt Lake County temple site still unknown

It remains a mystery where the LDS Church plans to build its fifth temple in Salt Lake County, despite media reports this week saying it would be built in Bluffdale.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints isn't saying anything more than what was said in its semiannual general conference in October: The temple is planned for the "southwest" part of the valley.

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has made no comment on temple sites in the Salt Lake Valley beyond what President Gordon B. Hinckley announced at the October 2005 semiannual general conference," a church statement released Wednesday said. "Announcements of new temples are made only by the First Presidency of the church."

And the developer of the reported site in Bluffdale issued a strong denial Wednesday of those reports.

"Sorenson Real Estate has no knowledge of plans by (the church) to build a temple in Bluffdale. Nor is it the decision of Sorenson Real Estate or any of the Sorenson companies to determine where or when the temple referred to by President Hinckley will be built, or when or how to make this information publicly available."

Those decisions are made by the church, the statement said.

But news reports Wednesday based on the statements of two former Bluffdale city officials have sparked a frenzy of speculation and a lot of interest in a piece of land caught in a legal dispute between the city of Bluffdale and landowners, including Sorenson. The land is currently in Bluffdale, though a lawsuit may see it break away and become an unincorporated part of Salt Lake County or join nearby Herriman.

Former Bluffdale Mayor Wayne Mortimer said developers told him the church plans to build a temple in the Rosecrest development on donated land along the proposed Mountain View Corridor. Morris Clark, a former city councilman, also said developers told him of the church's plans. Neither man has discussed the plans with church officials.

Sage Builders, which plans to build homes on Sorenson's Bluffdale land, has been telling prospective buyers that their lots are in the shadow of the future temple. Marketing director Cameron Jackson said that has been based entirely on the news reports — reports that have brought an increase in the number of interested buyers.

"We've probably had three or four different people in that have asked about it" Wednesday, Jackson said.

The boost in interest is partially behind Sage's plans to increase prices on all six of its house plans by $20,000 today, Jackson said.