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3 <br />difficulty. Once the city approves plats without a phasing plan in place, developers have <br />the legal right to build. <br /> <br />Mr. Grochala said the public hearing on the moratorium is scheduled for the December <br />Planning & Zoning meeting, and would be in effect in late February. The intent is to keep <br />the moratorium as short as possible, but it will take commitment from everyone. State <br />law allows an extension of a moratorium, but that is not an option the city should <br />consider. <br /> <br />Mr. Grochala added that there is not a good impression about the development process in <br />Lino Lakes. But this opportunity can be used with minimal impact. Marketplace is <br />underway, and momentum is already out there for commercial development. In the end, <br />Lino Lakes should be more developer friendly. <br /> <br />Mr. Juni asked if any housing developers are going to be getting caught in this. Mr. <br />Grochala said Mr. Rockey Goertz was an example. He was interested in developing a site <br />on Birch Street/Hodgson Road. He would get caught in the middle of old versus new <br />zoning. Developers will be reluctant to purchase property not knowing what the new <br />ordinances will be. Mr. Chase said phasing could have big financial impacts if a <br />developer has to buy a property but can’t develop it all at once. It makes the land less <br />valuable. <br /> <br />Ms. Schwartz questioned the legality of the cap of 147 homes. Mr. Grochala said likely <br />the city may get challenged eventually, but cities have broad discretion and it likely could <br />be supportable. Mr. Jensen said there is a lot of case law, and the city shouldn’t have a <br />problem defending its right to do it. <br /> <br />Mr. Juni said EDAC needs a discussion about how a moratorium affects economic <br />development. Mr. Chase said every time a project comes in, the city goes through a <br />debate about growth, and that negatively impacts development. Mr. Hicks said it feels <br />like a moratorium would create more of the problems that the city is trying to avoid. If <br />the city doesn’t accomplish its goals in a year, it will be in a worse place. Mr. Chase said <br />the issue is sending developers away for a year, or allowing them to go through a process <br />that takes much longer than it should and still have a risk of not getting approved. Mr. <br />Grochala said under existing ordinances, a development that comes in and meets those <br />ordinances still has a good chance of not being approved. The process now is not <br />working. <br /> <br />Ms. Schwartz said a moratorium is prudent, and many cities have a moratorium to <br />implement their comp plans. Mr. Chase said the council must be committed to allowing <br />the process to work. The task force approach was used for the comp plan, and it still took <br />years to get it approved. Mr. Grochala said the mandate is that the task force be <br />empowered by the council. Ms. Divine said EDAC’s role in this is to deal with <br />perception, and speak to the outside public about how this will improve the ability for <br />commercial development in the future. The real impact from an economic development <br />point of view is not the moratorium, but the cap on housing.