MT. PLEASANT, Utah (ABC 4 News) – A fundamentalist polygamist group has its eyes set on central Utah. In fact, members of the group have already bought the land and are starting to build homes.
The site, comprised of more than 900 acres, is located between Mount Pleasant and Spring City. The group is called the Apostolic United Brotherhood. [Apostolic United Brethren — RNB]
Residents in the area are concerned about the land purchase for a variety of reasons, including taxes, traffic, water rights, and other natural resource issues.
But many candidly told ABC 4 they were deeply concerned about the group’s ties to polygamy and the recent negative publicity over the raid on the FLDS ranch in Texas.
David Asay, the group’s project coordinator, told ABC 4 that Utahns have nothing to fear, and that polygamist members who will live on the land will blend in well, and that the group does not wish to “isolate” themselves. Asay also says they don’t even plan on building a wall around the property.
Asay did specify that the polygamist group was not affiliated in any way with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its jailed leader, Warren Jeffs. In fact, Asay says his group is more connected with the Rulon Allred polygamist clan.
The land wasn’t purchased in one big parcel. Chunks of land, side by side, were bought a little bit at a time. The last sale was closed in February.