Update: Latest reporting from The Salt Lake Tribune: Manti wants to sell street block to LDS Church

Lokai: LDS Church to Censor Christians by Buying Manti Road?

Bele: Anti-Mormons whine to the ACLU about sale of Manti city street to LDS.

Headlines, excerpts and random linkage:

ABC4: Manti could sell block of street to LDS Church

In a move that brings back memories of the battles over the Main Street Plaza in downtown Salt Lake, the Manti City Council is considering offering for sale a block of 1st East and it appears the only interested party is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Deseret News: ACLU expresses concerns about possible sale of Manti street to Mormon Church

“Several years ago the city of Manti approached The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about acquiring a parcel of land adjacent to the church’s Manti Temple,” spokesman Scott Trotter said in an e-mail Wednesday. “The property is now a dead-end road and no longer useful to the city. The church and city are currently in discussions to determine the viability of moving forward with a sale.”

FOX 13: ACLU cries foul on LDS Church proposed Manti Main Street purchase

The American Civil Liberties Union is raising concerns about the proposed sale of a portion of Manti’s Main Street to the LDS Church. The Manti City Council says it is considering selling a public street that bisects property already owned by the church. The ACLU says the street has historically been a thoroughfare used as a public forum for people of all religious persuasions — particularly during the annual week-long Mormon Miracle Pageant.

All religious persuasions? I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that, historically, it’s been a public forum for one persuasion in particular: Manti Pageant Evangelism 2010

Let the fundie hootin’ and hollerin’ begin: LDS Church to Censor Christians by Buying Manti Road

And finally, the text of the letter here (PDF) and blogger Aaron Shafovaloff’s commentary here.

h/t FOX13’s first-on-the-scene TV reporting and ACLU of Utah

P.S. Regarding the question that the title asks, I’d answer … No, this is not another Main Street Plaza. As far as I can tell, the LDS Church has every right to buy, and it’s down to whether or not the Manti City Council ought to sell. If local residents are in favor, I don’t see any reason why the council shouldn’t.