New Signs Warn Mormon Plaza Visitors

New signs installed on the LDS Church-owned Main Street Plaza in Salt Lake City attempt to clarify that the area is private property, following a July incident in which a gay couple was detained for kissing on the plaza.

The updated signs, which were suggested by the Salt Lake City prosecutor's office, feature a new paragraph that puts visitors on legal notice, according to local news channel ABC-4 in the video below.

"You've seen the signs before, but something's different," says reporter Annie Cutler. "There's a paragraph at the bottom that says, 'The Church reserves the right to refuse access to any person for any reason.'"

City prosecutor Sim Gill says, "What this notice is trying to do from our perspective is that it's starting to put people on notice that this is a conditional use; this is not a carte blanche that you get to come and do whatever you want to do."

Now, visitors asked by church guards to modify their behavior or leave the property must comply or, the church warns, face criminal charges.

Gill declined to press charges against the kissing gay couple, Matt Aune and Derek Jones, in part because of the lack of clarity surrounding the plaza regulations.

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