Philadelphia Mormon temple plans move forward

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Plans to build the first Mormon temple in Pennsylvania are moving forward.

A Philadelphia City Council committee on Wednesday approved a height variance for the $70 million project slated for downtown.

Other city approvals are still needed. But a regional spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says they hope to break ground by the end of the year.

Spokesman Ahmad Corbitt says the church has about 40,000 members in the area. Members attend weekly worship services at smaller chapels but will use the temple for special rites and sacraments.

The closest temples now are in New York and suburban Washington, D.C.

Corbitt says the church hopes to open the Philadelphia temple by 2013.