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Council Minutes -12- July 8, 2024 <br />legitimacy of the work of the City Council. He proved prospective on his social lens, providing a <br />quote from Martin Luther King Jr. He said that he looked up CAIRs website after they sent a <br />threatening letter to the City. He said the CAIR-MN website talks about creating mutual <br />understating and preventing religious discrimination, he highlighted that their stance on the <br />October 7, 2023 attack on Israel is not mentioned on their website. He said that just because, <br />he doesn't agree with someone does not make him Islamophobic. He stated that he supports <br />the moratorium but also supports the wide parameters it may entail, including Comprehensive <br />Plan amendments and rezoning, noting that nothing is off the table. <br />Councilmember Ruhland stated that he would like to take a few minutes to address some of <br />misconceptions about this moratorium. He stated that he is speaking solely for himself as a <br />single council member. CAIR-MN held a press conference last week on Tuesday and they <br />dispensed misinformation he would like to clear up and publicly comment on. <br />Councilmember Ruhland stated that the Executive Director of CAIR- MN was one of the was <br />one of the first to speak at the press conference. The Executive Director said that he was 99% <br />certain that a moratorium had never happened before in the history of Lino Lakes. <br />Councilmember Ruhland reported that the City placed a moratorium on storage facilities a <br />couple of years back while reviewing zoning requirements. He said that there was one <br />developer that already had a letter of intent out on a property that ultimately decided to walk <br />away as a result of the moratorium. He stated that if the moratorium is adopted this evening <br />this would be the third interim ordinance for a pause in development in a three-year period for <br />Lino Lakes. <br />Councilmember Ruhland said that the Executive Director stated that he had not seen a <br />moratorium adopted after anyone started the development process. However, earlier on in <br />that same speech he mentioned before the developer even submitted an application that we <br />were talking about a moratorium. The timeline matters, although it doesn't paint the <br />discriminatory message. Why logically would anyone submit an application while a moratorium <br />is being discussed? <br />Councilmember Ruhland stated that he recognizes that Zikar Holdings is relatively new <br />developer, developer without large scale development experience. He stated that they will <br />likely gain some great experience as they work through this process. However, he felt it is <br />important to note that a potential misstep and the timing of an application submission without <br />the experience of what a moratorium means doesn't translate to discrimination. <br />Councilmember Ruhland stated that the Executive Director mentioned that the previous <br />development was discussed on the property had 200+ more homes. He failed to mention that it <br />had zero commercial aspects to it. This proposed development has a large presence of <br />commercial development. <br />Councilmember Ruhland reported that as an organization CAIR-MN stated in a press release <br />that "On Monday, July 1, during a Work Session, the Lino Lakes City Council made a motion to <br />halt the due process for Madinah Lakes project to be heard on its Conceptual Plan." The <br />Executive Director was quotes as saying "With experience as an urban planner, I'm baffled by <br />this statement. There's a sharp contrast between tabling an agenda item, while even going as <br />