Ken Paxton files third lawsuit tied to ‘EPIC City’ development

Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed his third civil lawsuit related to a planned development with ties to the East Plano Islamic Center.

Paxton announced Monday morning that his office was filing a lawsuit in Collin County against the Double R Municipal Utility District No. 2A of Hunt and Collin Counties and its board members for violating the Texas Open Meetings Act and state water codes.

The state’s chief legal officer accused those involved of taking part in a scheme to “secretly take over and expand a political subdivision to facilitate the East Plano Islamic Center City development.” 

Municipal utility districts are authorized by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to support utilities such as water, sanitary sewer, drainage and flood control for planned residential developments within a certain area.

The district was to provide sewer services for the planned development.

The project, called The Meadow, is expected to feature 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 built on 402 acres near Josephine, roughly 40 miles northeast of downtown Dallas.

Community Capital Partners, a for-profit development group, was formed by members of the East Plano Islamic Center — one of North Texas’ largest mosques —  to oversee the project. The development was previously called EPIC City.

Paxton previously alleged that members of the Double R district met in rural Collin County in September 2025 after four years of inactivity.

The entire board was replaced during this meeting. The same day, newly appointed board members reviewed a petition from Community Capital Partners to annex the roughly 400 acres where The Meadow would be built. Board members approved the move.

Developers are required to obtain certain permissions from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality before construction on the project can begin. Community Capital Partners hadn’t received this state approval.

In the new lawsuit, Paxton alleges the district failed to give the public proper notice of its meeting and the matters that would be discussed. Board members, he said, attempted to misrepresent the district’s connection to the planned development.

The September meeting took place at “an undeveloped parcel of land with no apparent structures that would be suitable for a meeting of this type,” according to the lawsuit.

Further, the lawsuit alleges that the posted agenda did not provide “sufficient notice” that the district’s leadership would undergo a “radical change.”
Paxton’s office also accuses the district’s board members of using methods to circumvent open meetings law by discussing public business in smaller groups.

“The facts speak for themselves: Defendants coordinated to collectively resign and coordinated to identify five replacements,” the lawsuit reads. “Whether this was done daisy chain, with one director talking to another and so on, or was done via email, some meeting of the minds occurred before the public meeting.”

Paxton’s office seeks a temporary restraining order to halt the annexation and prevent the district from taking further action such as holding additional board meetings without a court ruling.

Paxton has two other lawsuits tied to The Meadow development. He filed an initial lawsuit against the Double R district in February.

His office accused the district and board members of actions that “appear designed to evade state oversight and support the illegal East Plano Islamic Center (‘EPIC’) real estate development”  through improper appointments and the unlawful expansion of the district’s boundaries.

Paxton’s  office secured a temporary injunction in late March that prevents the district from taking any further action until courts rule on the lawsuit.

In December, Paxton’s  office sued the East Plano Islamic Center, Community Capital Partners and several of their leaders for allegedly engaging in an “illegal development scheme that violated Texas securities laws.”

Community Capital Partners has repeatedly denied claims of discrimination and wrongdoing, touting the planned development as open and inclusive.

The group has said it will follow state and federal housing laws.

Gov. Greg Abbott has directed multiple state agencies to investigate EPIC and its affiliated entities. Abbott said in a December social media post that four agencies continue to investigate the planned development.