A leaked memo exposed a Rockwall megachurch’s plan to create false traffic patterns to mislead city authorities into installing a stoplight outside of it, catering to the thousands that attend it each Sunday.

Lakepointe Church applied to the city for a traffic signal at its main south entrance on West Ralph Hall Parkway.

In a statement to WFAA, the organization’s senior executive pastor, Tim Smith, claimed that it was going to pay for the stoplight and the requisite traffic study to determine whether a traffic light was necessary. It also stated that the initiative aimed to increase the safety of churchgoers and traffic officers and improve traffic flow.

Some of the congestion issues were confirmed by local residents.

“There’s just lines and lines of cars, and then anybody that’s trying to drive up and down Ralph Hall Parkway has to stop and wait,” Kenneth Teague, who lives near the church, told WFAA.

“Part of the due diligence and process of that light being installed was the commission of a traffic study at our entrance with a ratio of cars needed to fulfill its requirements. It was determined that the study would be held over specific hours during the week beginning on May 13,” Smith explained in the statement.

However, to allegedly stack the deck in its favor, Lakepointe Church purportedly sent out a memo this past weekend directing churchgoers to sign up to drive 10 laps around the area over a one-hour time period from May 14-19. Screenshots of the memo were leaked by Amanda Cunningham, a former member of the church.

“It laid out a plan to create false traffic patterns and mislead the city,” Cunningham claimed, per WFAA.

She went on to say that the plan fell through before the first shift began Tuesday morning after Rockwall city leaders were notified.

Smith has alleged that the move to impact the count by having people sign up to drive around had been made by “a staff member … without knowledge by senior executive leadership at Lakepointe.”

“[T]he sign-up list was immediately taken down (on Saturday) as we were made aware of what occurred,” his statement said.

Lakepointe plans to coordinate a new traffic study later in the year using its own consultants.