Plaza sale upheld
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DENVER, Colo. — In a unanimous decision Oct. 3, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upheld the sale of a section of Salt Lake City's Main Street to the Church.
The ruling rejects the claim of the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union that the former street — made into a plaza between the Salt Lake Temple and the Church Office Building — should remain a public sidewalk where free speech is allowed.
"Looked at objectively, the . . . case is one of neutrality and equal access, in which the city does nothing to advance religion, but merely enables the LDS church to advance itself," the court wrote.
Salt Lake City initially sold the one-block section of Main Street to the Church in 1999 for $8.1 million. In that sale, the city reserved a public-access easement across the plaza but gave the Church the authority to prohibit on-plaza protests and proselytizing, and certain dress and other behavior the Church finds offensive.
The ACLU sued, arguing the city cannot have public access on the plaza while forbidding certain types of speech or other First Amendment guarantees. In 2002, Salt Lake City agreed to trade the city's public access easement across the plaza to the Church for Church-owned land in Glendale, where a community center is to be built. The ACLU sued again, saying the sale of the pedestrian easement "resulted from undue influence by the LDS Church," according to the suit.
"We are pleased with today's ruling," Bruce L. Olsen, managing director of Church Public Affairs, said after the court's decision was announced. "The Church has always intended that the plaza be a place of peace, a quiet oasis in the midst of a bustling city where everyone can enjoy an atmosphere of serenity and reflection."
