Josephine City Council rejected a proposed new ordinance prohibiting “offensive” street names deemed contrary to American values.
During a council meeting Monday night, members voted 4-1 to decline the amended street-naming ordinance proposed by Councilwoman Pam Sardo.
The ordinance would have changed the city’s street-naming policy to specifically prohibit names referencing ideologies “contrary to the principles of the U.S. Constitution” or “deemed inconsistent with the values of the community.”
Josephine’s current “Street Names and Signs” policy already requires street names to be approved by the city.
Opponents of the proposed change said the new naming rules were subjective and not needed.
Sardo said her proposal was intended to be a “preemptive” move to defend American values.
At their July meeting, council members voted 3-2 to instruct staff to prepare a draft ordinance for consideration.
Although not directly mentioned in the council’s discussions, the ordinance appeared prompted by the proposed—but as yet unstarted—Muslim community known as EPIC City.
Property for the planned development is located just north of Josephine.
However, the EPIC City property is outside Josephine’s city limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction, so the ordinance would not have impacted street names in that development.
In May, Gov. Greg Abbott posted to X that Texas had “halted” any construction of EPIC City, but the project’s developers responded that nothing had been halted.
Currently the EPIC City property remains undeveloped farmland.
Sardo has spoken publicly against EPIC City, an expansion of the East Plano Islamic Center, and other Muslim projects in Collin County—including a proposed Islamic community in Blue Ridge that city officials there disannexed in May and a federal grant recommended by Plano City Council in July for a domestic violence shelter founded by Muslim women.
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