Hildale, USA - The religious divide in this town on the Utah-Arizona border is starting to look like a canyon.
Plans to reform the United Effort Plan Trust, which controls most of the property here and across the border in Colorado City, Ariz., have faced a series of delays. Now, plans to subdivide the communal property are stalling.
Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed special fiduciary in charge of the UEP Trust, wondered if it is more resistance from the Fundamentalist LDS Church faithful.
"We would love to see some political pressure put on the city councils," he said at a Friday-night town meeting held to discuss subdividing UEP Trust property. "If they're getting instruction from religious leadership that says, 'Don't help, don't do anything positive,' they're probably not going to do anything."
"Since we're non-FLDS, they won't listen to us," one woman replied.
Only a few dozen people showed up at the town meeting to discuss changes to the United Effort Plan Trust, which was until recently the communal property arm of the FLDS Church. Wisan told the crowd he was a little disappointed in the turnout since dividing the trust property will affect nearly everyone in these communities.
Standing at a podium in the tiny Hildale City Hall, Wisan quickly outlined the status of subdividing the community. The Hildale and Colorado City councils have outlined a list of their requirements. At the rate they're moving, it could be years before everything is finally approved.
"Colorado City is having 26 different agencies review each plat," he said. "Hildale has eight reviewing it."
There are also improvements that need to be made to these towns for health and safety reasons, including new water lines and fire hydrants. All of this could also be costly. How much exactly, Wisan couldn't say. It could be hundreds of thousands of dollars, a million or more. And who pays?
"In the real world, the developer builds all the infrastructure and he has all of the costs, and he adds all that into the price of the lot that he's selling to the residents," Wisan said.
In the polygamous border towns of Hildale and Colorado City, it's a little bit different.
"Here, we've got residents already living in houses, and now we've got to go back and make some improvements," Wisan said.
The UEP Trust was founded on the early Mormon concept of a "united order," where community members gave property and possessions to the church, which assigned the goods back to members according to just wants and needs. (The FLDS Church is a breakaway sect from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
In 2005, the courts took control of the UEP Trust after allegations surfaced that FLDS leader Warren Jeffs and other church leaders had mismanaged it. The UEP has an estimated $100 million in assets, mostly in real estate.
Jeffs, 51, was recently convicted of first-degree felony rape as an accomplice charges stemming from a 14-year-old girl's marriage to her 19-year-old cousin. The polygamous sect leader, who was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, faces up to life in prison when he's sentenced Nov. 20.
To force the subdivision issue with community leaders, Wisan asked if they should take Hildale and Colorado City to court.
"They said if you litigate, we're going to stop considering everything," UEP lawyer Jeffrey L. Shields told the crowd.
"Is that a bluff?" a woman asked.
"No," a man hollered out.
Litigation could be lengthy and costly. While some favored taking the FLDS-dominated city councils to court, others were hesitant.
"These people are my relates (sic). I can tell you now, intimidation won't work," said a man, who asked not to be identified. "If we can work with them, let's do it. In the end, we've got to live here."
Don Timpson, a member of the UEP's advisory board, urged the non-FLDS in the community to speak out for changes.
"We complain about the city; who of us have been to the city and even spoken up in our own defense?" he said.
Wisan and Shields conceded that their relationship with the Hildale and Colorado City councils have improved. Toward the end of the meeting, a Hildale man, who asked not to be identified, spoke from the back of the room. He defended the councils, pointing out that before the court-ordered reforms, the UEP would make infrastructure improvements and work with the cities.
"We're facing that situation here because we're going into the privatization of land," the man said. "We're being hit hard with it. We're having to face it, and I think the city councils are doing the best they can."
Shields asked the man if they should continue to try to negotiate with Hildale and Colorado City leaders.
"Litigation is the worst scenario," he replied.