What we know about plans for the Muslim-centered neighborhood-epic city

Plans for a Muslim-centered district in North Texas were made with several state and federal investigations. The agencies have asked officials to extend Epic City from the Texas Rangers to the Ministry of Justice, which is still in the planning phases of development.

Epic urban developers told in February The Dallas Morning News They hoped to build more than 1,000 houses, a K-12 school, a mosque, older and assisted living, apartments, clinics, retail stores, a community college and sports Fields in an empty field near Josephine, about 30 miles northeast of Dallas.

Last year, some members of the East Plano Islamic Center, one of the largest mosques in North Texas, formed non-profit companies Community Capital Partners (CCP) to manage the EPIC City project.

As state officials have announced investigations, they have made explanations of the planned community and explained that it will only be open to Muslims and that potential residents will impose the “Sharia” setting.

The Dallas Morning News Check some of these statements to help readers understand the controversy. Here is what you should know about Epic City.

Abbott said: The construction of the project was discontinued. It never started.

On May 11, the Texas Governor Greg Abbott exhibited on X that Texas had “stopped building Epic City”.

The governor previously threatened the East Plano Islamic Center and associated companies with “the full weight of the law” if they began or refused to stop building the planned epic urban development.

Representatives of the epic city project told The news In April that the project is still in the planning phase. Developers have not submitted any project plans and the dirt remains unaffected.

David Kalhoefer, a senior planner from the Westwood engineering office, announced during a meeting in March that a development application was not submitted. A traffic impact analysis, flood study and environmental study of the location have been completed.

“No requests for approval or paperwork were submitted, and no construction started,” said Erin Ragsdale, a spokesman for development, said before. “As we said in February, the KPCP is expanding an open invitation to Governor Abbott. We would be happy about the opportunity to give him an overview of the project, to show him the website and to answer his questions. We believe that an open dialogue would save tax payer resources and promote a relationship between transparency and cooperation.”

Abbott said: The development will impose the “Sharia” setting. Community planner say no, it won’t do it.

On February 24, Abbott wrote about the project on X. “Even the Sharia cities are not” not Go zones “that seems to imply this project. Conclusion: The project proposed in the video is not allowed in Texas.”

When Abbott spokesman Andrew Mahalis was reached by phone on February 24th, Abbott -Presse spokesman asked The news to send a request for comments via e -mail. The news sent several questions by e -mail. The governor’s office rejected Reporters on Abbott’s comments on social media.

Yasir Qadhi, based scholar at the East Plano Islamic Center, is involved in the Epic City Project. Qadhi told The news In February that the only laws that will enforce the community are Texas and States. They don’t want to impose religion on anyone.

“Sharia” is the name for the moral rules that God has defined in Muslim Holy Writings, and there is no universal, agreed list of “Sharia” genes.

Legislators in countries of the Muslim majority, which have inspired laws that are inspired by the Sharia debate, and do not agree on how they can interpret and use their writings-precisely like the legislator in the Christian majority with laws that are inspired by Jewish-Christian teachings.

Officials said that the development can discriminate against non-Muslims. The community says Epic is open to everyone.

Several Texas officials, including Abbott and US Senator John Cornyn, have taken care of that the proposed development will discriminate against non-Muslims.

The Ministry of Justice applied for Cornyn a civil rights investigation by the project because of concerns that developers can discriminate against Christian and Jewish Texans.

In a social media contribution at the beginning of this month, Cornyn said that the Doj had initiated an investigation. “All violations of the federal law have to be pursued quickly, and I know from the Trump administration that they will be,” said Cornyn in an explanation.

The Dallas Morning News has received no answer from the doj to the investigation.

Cornyn claims that Community Capital Partners could violate the Fair Housing Act from 1968 after the group was originally advertised that they would “limit sales to only people, of whom we believe that they are contributing to the general composition of our community and legally authorized to invest and buy property in the USA,” said the group on the group for EPIC City.

“I also encourage the department to investigate whether Christians, Jews and other non-Muslim minorities would receive the same protection in this new community according to the law,” wrote Cornyn in his letter. “Religious discrimination, whether explicitly or implicitly, is unconstitutional after the first and fourteenth changes.”

Abbott said in a press release on March 28, the group behind Epic City may have discriminated against non-Muslims. In the press release, the Texas Workforce Commission was examined to examine the developers of the Muslim Center Quarter.

“(T) The Texas Workforce Commission has opened an investigation by the group behind the proposed epic connection, which may violate state residential laws by refusing to sell or rent living space to certain groups based on religion or other protected features,” said Abbott in the press release.

Qadhi, the local scholar at Epic, told The news In February the epic city is open to everyone, regardless of religion. “We have to dispel this idea that this is an exclusive community. It is open to everyone, and everyone who is interested is more than welcome to apply,” he said.

“Obviously we understand that it will have a greater attraction for those of a certain background,” he said. “If certain people want to live in a community in which there is a mosque or a temple or a synagogue based on faith that can be reached on foot, why should this freedom not be approved?”

Community Capital Partners also told The news In February it would adhere to the fair houseing act that prohibits the denial of a person’s apartment due to their religion and other protected classes.

The organization said that ceiling bans would be bans for a group of people, but we will carry out a thorough individual assessment of potential buyers to ensure that they match our target goals. “

Legislative declaration: It is not clear whether epic city investors receive land ownership. The community said that investors would have land.

The Rep. Candy Noble, R-Lucas, wrote a legislative template that aims at the business structure behind Epic City.

In the legislation, companies would inform companies that they buy an interest in the business and not in residential properties themselves.

Try to prevent an investor from transferring his requirements or institute requirements for an investor to maintain his share would be a violation of Texas Fair Housing Act.

“Is it a timesharing? Is it a cooperative? Is it a mud, a PID or a Hoa? The answer is-it seems a bit of it, and technically none of them,” said Noble. “What is not clear is whether investors actually own the country or only have access to build on it.”

Representatives of Community Capital Partners told The news That investors receive a certificate for the lot as soon as the full price is paid – so that they own the country.

In order to reserve loosely in Epic City, investors, according to the director of this group, Imran Chaudhary, have to acquire a share of 80,000 US dollars at Community Capital Partners. The money is credited to buy a home. Purchase of a share of Community Capital Partner grants investors a 15% discount on a LOT price in Epic City.

For epic ranch, investors have to pay serious money of $ 30,000. 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 the report for America.