Plans for a Muslim-centric neighborhood in North Texas have been met with several state and federal investigations. Officials have asked agencies ranging from the Texas Rangers to the Department of Justice to investigate EPIC City, which is still in the planning stages of development.
In February, EPIC City developers told The Dallas Morning News they were hoping to build more than 1,000 homes, a K-12 faith-based school, a mosque, elderly and assisted living, apartments, clinics, retail shops, a community college and sports fields on an empty field near Josephine, about 30 miles northeast of downtown Dallas.
Last year, some of the East Plano Islamic Center, one of the largest mosques in North Texas, formed the for-profit entity Community Capital Partners (C) to manage the EPIC City project.
As state officials have announced investigations, they’ve made statements about the planned community, saying it will be open only to Muslims and it will impose “Sharia” law on potential residents.
The Dallas Morning News is fact-checking several of these statements to help readers understand the controversy. Here’s what to know about EPIC City.
Abbott said: Construction on the project has been halted. It never started.
On May 11, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott posted on X that Texas had “halted any construction of EPIC City.”
The governor previously threatened the East Plano Islamic Center and d entities with “the full weight of the law” if they began or refused to stop construction on the planned EPIC City development.
Representatives for the EPIC City project told The News in April that the project is still in the planning phase. Developers have submitted no project plans and the dirt remains unmoved.
David Kalhoefer, a senior planner with engineering firm Westwood, told Collin County Commissioners during a March meeting that a development application hasn’t been submitted. A traffic impact analysis, flood study and environmental study of the site have been completed.
“No permit applications or paperwork have been filed and no construction has started,” Erin Ragsdale, a spokesperson for the development, previously said. “As we said back in February, C extends an open invitation to Gov. Abbott. We would appreciate the opportunity to give him an overview of the project, show him the site and answer his questions. We believe an open dialogue could save taxpayer resources, and foster a relationship of transparency and collaboration.”
Abbott said: The development will impose “Sharia” law. Community planners say no, it won’t.
On Feb. 24, Abbott posted about the project on X. “To be clear, Sharia law is not allowed in Texas,” he wrote. “Nor are Sharia cities. Nor are ‘no go zones’ which this project seems to imply. Bottom line: The project as proposed in the video is not allowed in Texas.”
When reached by phone on Feb. 24, Abbott press secretary Andrew Mahaleris asked The News to email a request for comment. The News emailed several questions. The governor’s office referred reporters back to Abbott’s comments on social media.
Yasir Qadhi, resident scholar at the East Plano Islamic Center, is involved with the EPIC City project. Qadhi told The News in February that the only laws the community will enforce will be Texas and federal ones. They are not seeking to impose religion on anyone.
“Sharia” is the name for the moral rules laid out by God in Muslim Scriptures, and there is no universal agreed-upon list of “Sharia” laws.
Lawmakers in Muslim-majority countries that have laws inspired by Sharia debate and disagree on how to interpret and apply their Scriptures — just like lawmakers in Christian-majority countries with laws inspired by Judeo-Christian teachings.
Officials said: The development may discriminate against non-Muslims. Community says EPIC is open to anyone.
Multiple Texas officials, including Abbott and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, have expressed concern that the proposed development will discriminate against non-Muslims.
Cornyn requested the Department of Justice open a civil rights investigation into the project over concerns that developers may discriminate against Christian and Jewish Texans.
In a social media post earlier this month, Cornyn said the DOJ launched an investigation. “Any violations of federal law must be swiftly prosecuted, and I know under the Trump istration, they will be,” Cornyn said in a statement.
The Dallas Morning News has not received a response from the DOJ regarding the investigation.
Cornyn alleges Community Capital Partners may be violating the Fair Housing Act of 1968 after the group initially d that it would “limit sales to only persons we believe will contribute to the overall makeup of our community and are legally eligible to invest and buy property in the United States,” according to previous language on the group’s website for EPIC City.
“I further encourage the Department to investigate whether Christians, Jews, and other non-Muslim minorities would receive equal protection under the law in this new community,“ Cornyn wrote in his letter. ”Religious discrimination, whether explicit or implicit, is unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.”
Abbott said in a March 28 news release that the group behind EPIC City was potentially discriminating against non-Muslims. The release said the Texas Workforce Commission was investigating the Muslim-centric neighborhood‘s developers.
“[T]he Texas Workforce Commission opened an investigation into the group behind the proposed EPIC compound who are potentially breaking state fair housing laws by refusing to sell or rent housing to certain groups based on religion or other protected traits,” Abbott said in the release.
Qadhi, the resident scholar at EPIC, told The News in February that EPIC City is open to anyone, regardless of religion. “We have to dispel this notion that this is an exclusive community; it is open for all, and anybody who’s interested is more than welcome to apply,” he said.
“Obviously, we understand that it’s going to have a greater appeal to those of a certain background,” he said. “If certain people want to live in a community where there is a faith-based mosque or temple or synagogue that’s walking distance, why should they not be allowed that freedom?”
Community Capital Partners also told The News in February it would adhere to the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits the denial of housing to a person based on their religion and other protected classes.
The organization said it “will not enforce blanket bans on any group of people, but we will conduct thorough individualized assessments of prospective buyers to ensure they align with our goals of safety and security.”
Lawmaker statement: It’s not clear whether EPIC City investors will be given ownership of land. Community said investors will own land.
State Rep. Candy Noble, R-Lucas, authored a bill that targets the business structure behind EPIC City.
The bill would require business entities to inform buyers that they are purchasing an interest in the business and not in any residential property itself.
Attempts to prevent an investor from transferring their share or institute requirements for an investor to maintain their share would be a violation of the Texas Fair Housing Act.
“Is it a timeshare? Is it a co-op? Is it a MUD, a PID or an HOA? The answer is — it seems to be a little bit of all of those, and technically, none of them,” Noble said. “What‘s not clear is whether investors actually own the land or just have access to it to build on it.”
Representatives for Community Capital Partners told The News that investors will receive a deed for the lot once the full price is paid — so they will own the land.
To reserve lots in EPIC City, investors must purchase an $80,000 share of Community Capital Partners, according to that group’s director, Imran Chaudhary. The money will be credited to the purchase of a home lot. A purchase of a share in Community Capital Partners gives investors a 15% discount on a lot price in EPIC City.
Investors must pay $30,000 in earnest money for EPIC Ranches. Lot sales have not started for EPIC Ranches.
Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.
