Cornyn’s campaign said Paxton has the “legal authority to put a stop to EPIC City.” Paxton has sued twice to try and stop the development.
DALLAS — The legal fight over The Meadow — a proposed Muslim-centered development in Collin County — is now spilling into Texas’ high-stakes Republican runoff for U.S. Senate, just weeks before voters decide.
U.S. Senator John Cornyn released a new digital ad on Friday attacking Ken Paxton for not doing enough to stop the development.
In a press release Friday, Cornyn’s campaign said Paxton has the “legal authority to put a stop to EPIC City,” but has delivered only “bluster and strongly worded press releases.”
General Paxton has sued twice to try and stop the development.
In October, Paxton sued the development alleging key players failed to register as securities dealers and misrepresented key facts.
Then, in December, Paxton sued the Double R Municipal Utility District after it agreed to provide The Meadow with water and sewage services. Paxton alleged that the MUD incorrectly appointed new board members to make it happen.
Paxton’s campaign shot back at Cornyn in a statement on Friday: “For the last several years, John Cornyn’s been too busy praising his friends at Islamic Relief to do a single thing to stop sharia law and unlawful developments like EPIC City. My office has sued EPIC City for violations of securities law to stop its illegal development, defended the Texas Workforce Commission in its lawsuit against EPIC City, and secured a temporary injunction stopping a MUD takeover designed to aid EPIC City. What has John Cornyn done besides issue statements attacking me? Not a single thing. This is another desperate, baseless accusation from a do-nothing career politician.”
Cornyn is seeking re-election but was forced into a May 26 runoff by Paxton, setting up an increasingly combative showdown between the two Republicans.
The East Plano Islamic Center, one of North Texas’ largest mosques, launched EPIC City as a 402-acre master-planned community in Collin and Hunt counties.
The community has since been rebranded as The Meadow and is being developed by Community Capital Partners, an entity formed by members of the mosque. The design includes a mosque, 1,000 houses, and a faith-based school.
The development has drawn fierce opposition from Republican leaders in Texas and Washington, who have attempted to block or slow it through legal challenges.
This week, a Travis County judge ordered the Texas Workforce Commission to comply with the fair housing agreement it made with the developer last year.
Developers said that ruling clears a path forward for the project, the Dallas Morning News reported.
“This ruling confirms what we have maintained from the beginning — that Community Capital Partners has been willing, ready, and committed to following Texas law at every step,” Imran Chaudhary, the company’s president, said in a statement to the DMN. “We have done nothing wrong, and this decision reflects that.”
But Friday morning, Paxton’s office announced it got a temporary injunction from the Fifteenth Court of Appeals to stop the Texas Workforce Commission from approving The Meadow’s fair housing plan.
“Following my appeal of the flawed ruling that would have required the Texas Workforce Commission to unlawfully approve fair housing documents for EPIC, I am glad to see that the developers will not receive such services as this lawsuit is proceeding,” General Paxton said in a press release.
In February, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development opened an investigation into The Meadows after a complaint from the Texas Workforce Commission. The TWC alleged that the development would become an exclusively “Muslim community” and that it would represent “the epicenter of Islam in America,” potentially violating Fair Housing law.
For now, the project remains tied up in court — and increasingly central to a bitter Senate runoff where both candidates are looking for an edge.