LDS Plaza will Ticket You

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this week posted new signs around Salt Lake City's Main Street Plaza that state, "The [LDS] Church reserves the right to refuse access to any person for any reason," reports TheSalt Lake Tribune.

The signs are an attempt to inform pedestrians that they have entered private property, following the decision of city prosecutor Sim Gill not to press charges against a gay couple who shared a kiss on the plaza, prompting guards to detain them in July. Gill reasoned that there was not adequate warning that the area is not a public space.

The Mormon Church purchased the block of Main Street between North Temple and South Temple in 1999. Initially the area retained public easement, but in 2003 it was declared private property.

The signs pave the way for guards to issue tickets for trespassing to those who refuse to vacate the premises when asked.

The church has declined to explicitly list banned behavior on its signs, but when the area was purchased the church declared prohibitions on protesting, smoking, sunbathing, and other "offensive, indecent, obscene, lewd, or disorderly speech, dress, or conduct," according to the Tribune.