Frisco council approves rezoning for Hindu temples, Muslim mosque amid protests

Police removed multiple residents from Frisco City Council chambers Tuesday night as more than four hours of public comment over rezoning for two Hindu temples and a Muslim mosque turned into a broader fight about religion, growth and who gets heard in public. The removals drew new accusations that free speech was being suppressed inside the George A. Purefoy Municipal Center.

City staff said the council was not deciding whether the projects could be built. The item was an administrative appeal of actions already approved by the Frisco Planning & Zoning Commission on May 12, and officials said all three sites were in full compliance with city ordinances. Mayor Jeff Cheney said the governing rules were adopted through a citizen-driven process and that places of worship have long been allowed under those zoning designations.

The three projects are the Islamic Center of Quad Cities near 14800 Lebanon Road at the northwest corner of Batsford Drive and Lebanon Road, a temple proposed by Gita Mandir Inc. as part of a larger mixed-use development on about 14.8 acres at the southeast corner of FM 423 and Lone Star Ranch Parkway, and a temple and community center proposed by the Jain Society of North Texas on about 5.7 acres on the south side of Lebanon Road. The Islamic Center of Quad Cities site had a preliminary site plan approved in 2020.

The clash landed in a city that keeps growing fast. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Frisco’s population at 235,208 in 2024, with 28.1% of residents identifying as Asian alone. City materials describe Frisco as majority-minority, and the same estimates show 27.3% foreign-born residents and 33.6% who speak a language other than English at home.

Those demographic shifts have fed months of tension around anti-Indian takeover claims and H-1B visa fraud allegations that local leaders have called divisive. Cheney has said outside agitators helped fuel earlier flare-ups, while Councilman Burt Thakur, who was born in India, has said many Indian residents came legally.

Frisco already has a visible religious footprint. Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple says it identified Frisco as a temple site in 2007 and later expanded its kitchen with city approval in 2016. The Hindu Temple of Frisco says it has operated since 2019 and marked its eighth anniversary in May 2026. The Islamic Center of Frisco, also known as Frisco Masjid, has long served worshippers and visitors. On May 19, that established landscape collided with public protest, and Frisco’s handling of pluralism and civic dissent moved to the center of city politics.