Hearing over proposed Mormon temple

FARMINGTON, Conn. (WTNH) -- A proposal for a huge Mormon Temple in Farmington is up for discussion with some town officials tonight.

Just a week ago the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints released the official rendering of the planned temple.

Tonight's 7:30 public hearing will involve the Farmington Planning and Zoning Committee, and it is integral to getting a zoning change for the 11-acre site at Farmington Avenue and Melrose Drive from business/retail to a code allowing religious institutions.

If the plan is approved, five houses and the old Whitman Restaurant will be razed to make room for the roughly 35,000-square-foot temple.

It would be the second Mormon temple in New England. The first, a 70,000-square-foot edifice, was completed 12 years ago in Belmont, Massachusetts, overlooking Boston.

If approved, construction could begin this summer.