Viral social media posts claim a Muslim city is being planned near Vero Beach, Florida, prompting outrage from local residents during the county’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting this week.
The claims center around a Texas-based developer, Epic Estates LLC, which owns property in Indian River County, Florida. Critics have tied the developer to a separate proposed development in the suburbs of Dallas that is backed by the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC), known as the “EPIC city.” However, there is no connection between the developer and the EPIC city near Dallas.
In an email reviewed by Newsweek, Epic Estates LLC told Indian River County officials that they have no connection to the EPIC city near Dallas or any religious organization. The only overlap is the word “epic,” the email said. The viral social media claims incorrectly link the two, according to the email.
Newsweek reached out to Epic Estates LLC for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The viral claims have sparked concerns among some residents and have spread across social media, with conservative influencers broadcasting speculation about the development to hundreds of thousands of followers.
What To Know
Citizens gathered at the commission meeting Thursday evening, though local officials quickly noted that discussion of Epic Estates LLC was not on the agenda.
Social media claims have tied the development to the EPIC City near Dallas, which has garnered national attention and has drawn scrutiny from local officials including Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican who has delayed its construction.
The project in Florida has been proposed by the organization Epic Estates LLC, a land banking company based in Texas with property in seven states, including 13,000 acres in Florida.
Despite both organizations using “EPIC” in their name or as an acronym, there are no connections between the two, according to the email provided to Newsweek by a county official. Officials pushed back on the rumors during the meeting.
Ryan Sweeney, assistant planning and development services director for Indian County, said during the meeting that Epic Estates LLC is a “landowner in the county” and that there have been “preliminary talks” about an affidavit of exemption to create 10-acre lots.
“Epic Estates LLC, through several LLCs, owns several large tracts of properties west of I-95 in Indian River County,” he said. “They’ve had pre-application meetings, which are conceptual, about what’s doing an affidavit of exemption. It’s a rural subdivision where they can create 10-acre lots. Two out of those three, there are access issues. One might be viable. They have not filed any formal applications with the county.”
He also dispelled rumors of a “new town,” noting that something like that would be “noticed to the gills.”
He said he believed the room was packed because of the project spreading across social media that has been referred to as an “Epic City,” but that the project “really does not exist.”
Although it’s not clear that proposed development in Florida has ties to any religious group, there have been proposals for such a development in Texas. The proposed development would cover 402 acres in the suburbs of Dallas but has drawn backlash from the state’s GOP leaders.
Critics argued the development would be illegal if it did not allow non-Muslims to live in the community, but developers have said anyone would be welcome, according to The Dallas Observer.
Late last year, developers said they would rename the project to “The Meadow.” Abbott responded to that news on X, writing that it would “remain just that–an empty meadow.”
What People Are Saying
Ryan Sweeney, assistant planning and development services director, during Thursday’s meeting: “There is no proposal to rezone large acreage of land. There is no proposal to subdivide into anything smaller than 10 acres. So with that being said, if anything like that were to come it would be a quasi-judicial matter.”
Dennis Michael lynch, a conservative commentator, on X: “UPDATE: Standing room only tonight in Indian River County Florida, crowd was so big people couldn’t get in the building. The war has just started, but the pre planning stage for Epic Estate (aka Muslim Epic City) is underway. The more people who stand up the better.”
What Happens Next
The future of the Epic Estates LLC project in Florida remains unclear.
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