North Texas Judge Freezes MUD Tied To The Meadow, Formerly EPIC City
A Collin County judge has temporarily blocked further action by a North Texas utility district’s board, finding evidence it violated state law when it advanced infrastructure tied to The Meadow, a 402-acre development formerly known as EPIC City.
The Meadow is a planned mixed-use development in rural Texas tied to the East Plano Islamic Center. The community is set to include 1,000 homes, senior living facilities, a K-12 faith-based school, clinics, retail space and a mosque.
The temporary restraining order applies to the Double R Municipal Utility District of Hunt and Collin counties and its board members, who, the district court stated, may not be legally qualified to serve because they did not own taxable property within the district prior to a disputed annexation.
Filed on behalf of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the order bars the board from exercising its authority, including entering into financial agreements, issuing public securities and approving development-related reports. It also prevents the board from accepting or appointing new directors.
MUDs are authorized by the TCEQ to support drainage, flood control, water and sewer services in planned residential developments.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Double R MUD in February, alleging it sidestepped state oversight by incorporating The Meadow into an existing utility district instead of forming a new one, the Denton Record-Chronicle reported.
In April 2025, Gov. Greg Abbott's office released a statement saying the developer behind The Meadow, then called EPIC City, hadn’t obtained the required permits or authorizations from the TCEQ and therefore could not begin construction.
The restraining order adds to the growing list of legal and regulatory challenges the project faces. In February, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity launched an investigation against EPIC Real Properties Inc. and Community Capital Partners LP into possible violations of the Fair Housing Act by “engaging in religious and national origin discrimination,” per a release from HUD.
All along, EPIC Real Properties and Community Capital Partners have maintained that it is a lawful residential development.
“[Paxton’s] reference to EPIC in official press materials confirms that this is not neutral or even-handed enforcement, but religious discrimination by the State,” Community Capital Partners said in a statement to The Dallas Morning News on Thursday.
