Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the directors of a municipal utility district in the second case from his office aimed at impeding the development of a master-planned community initially marketed to Muslims.
The East Plano Islamic Center has pitched a residential development, formerly called EPIC City, with more than 1,000 residential units, a mosque, a K-12 faith-based school and retail shops outside of Dallas. The project drew numerous state investigations last year — some for unclear reasons — including one from Paxton, who said in March he was looking into potential violations of consumer protection laws.
The suit alleges that Double R Municipal Utility District in Hunt and Collin counties was improperly transferred to a new, ineligible board of directors in September to help the planned community develop in the district. That same day, the new board also approved adding about 400 acres to its district at the request of Community Capital Partners, one of the development companies for the planned community.
All five members of Double R MUD’s board of directors are listed as defendants in addition to the district itself, and Paxton’s suit claims none of them were eligible to operate the MUD because they did not own land or live in the district, making any transfers under the board improper. The suit asks the court to enjoin the board from taking any action “until the Court can determine whether Defendants meet the qualification requirements.” Municipal utility districts are political subdivisions overseen by the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality that help provide water, sewage, drainage and other utilities to communities.
Double R MUD did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
A press release from Paxton’s office announcing the suit said the change in leadership in the MUD “appear[s] designed to evade state oversight” to build the community, now called The Meadow.
“I will not allow individuals to cheat the system to advance an illegal development and destroy beautiful Texas land,” Paxton said in a statement. “If EPIC City’s developers or operatives are attempting to illegally take over local governmental structures in North Texas, my office will do everything in our power to stop their scheme.”
Paxton previously sued EPIC and its leaders in North Texas for alleged securities fraud after months of fierce scrutiny from GOP officials and commentators. In that suit, which was filed in December, he accused Community Capital Partners — a private group he alleged EPIC founded — of failing to register as a securities dealer and committing securities fraud by misrepresenting the proposed development’s location and its leader’s compensation in relation to the project.
Paxton filed both suits in Collin County, including the latest on Friday, where part of the development is planned. The initial suit came a month and a half after he wrote to the Texas Securities Board about violations his office had uncovered while investigating the development. He asked the board to review those findings and get back to him so that he could sue.
The legal action is the latest development to bring attention to the community, which has been the recipient of Islamaphobic vitriol for months as several GOP candidates have made anti-Muslim rhetoric a pillar of their campaigns ahead of the March 3 primary.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development opened an investigation into the housing project on Friday over allegations of fair housing discrimination at the request of the Texas Workforce Commission. Last summer, the U.S. Department of Justice quietly closed a probe into the housing project — saying that the developers had agreed to follow federal fair housing laws.
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