The Mormon Church v. NIMBYs

Buzzfeed has picked up this story about the Mormon Church getting involved in a very fine grain land-use battle in Provo:

At issue is a classic not-in-my-backyard fight: Some Provo, Utah residents are worried that a nine-story building the Mormon Church wants to construct on the campus of its Missionary Training Center will block their view of the snow-capped Wasatch Mountains. [...]

For four months, the incident played out like any other NIMBY zoning conflict — until the church brought God into it. Paul Evans, a Provo resident who was spearheading the efforts against the building ... told BuzzFeed that his Stake President, a local ecclesiastical leader, told him that Mormon apostle Russell M. Nelson — one of the highest-ranking officials in the church — was now "inviting" him and other activists to abandon their effort as a matter of faith.

Steve Clowney