Phoenix Arizona Temple

The Phoenix Arizona Temple is a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the city of Phoenix, Arizona. It is the 144th temple of the LDS Church. The announcement of the temple on May 24, 2008, came a month after the Gila Valley and Gilbert temples were announced for Arizona.
The announcement came in part as a response to the high concentration of church members in the area and to help ease the load on the nearby Mesa Arizona Temple.
The original design of the temple, which resembled the Draper Utah Temple in design, exceeded the maximum height restrictions imposed by existing zoning law and required an exception be granted by the Phoenix city council. The primary issue was not the planned steeple height of 126 feet, as church steeples are exempt from zoning laws, but the temple's structural height of 40 feet. The exterior color of the temple was also changed from the traditional white to a more natural stone color in an effort to address the concerns of residents in the neighborhood.
The city council voted to approve the requested zoning exemptions on December 2, 2009.