Tribe denies dorm for former Utah sect

Salt Lake Tribune-- Fort Hall, Idaho » A tribe has denied a request by a Utah religious group to build a dormitory-style building on the Fort Hall Reservation.

The Land Use Policy Commission of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes rejected a permit request by Church of the Firstborn and General Assembly of Heaven member Joseph Ahlstrom to build a three-story, 18,000-square-foot building on 3.68 acres of property, the Idaho State Journal reported Friday.

The commission told Ahlstrom in a letter that he was in violation of the laws and regulations of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes because the single-family residence he owns has about 30 people living on the property.

The commission also ordered Ahlstrom to "immediately cease and desist further misuse of the residential property."

Sect members moved to the Fort Hall home from Utah this summer, the Journal has reported.

On its Web site, the Church of the Firstborn said the sect was started by Terrill Dalton, who was excommunicated from the LDS Church.

Geody Harman, one church leader, said members still were looking over the letter and considering their options.

"We haven't made a decision," he said. "We counsel with the Lord in all our doings and we need to do that first."

The group's Web site said Dalton and Harmon translated records from God. Among those records were references to plural marriage and instructions to tithe to Dalton.

The tribe said the group's "beliefs are not consistent with the tribal law definition of what constitutes an immediate family or marriage."

In its decision, the commission noted the property is intended for agricultural use and not to accommodate dozens of people.