LINO LAKES, Minn. — Lino Lakes City Council Member Michael Ruhland is speaking out after recent comments regarding the council’s decision to pursue a moratorium on new building projects.
“To be accused of racism or Islamophobia is just shameful, honestly,” Ruhland says.
The council voted 4-1 to approve a one-year moratorium on residential building projects in a nearly 1,000-acre stretch of land in Lino Lakes.
Ruhland voted for the moratorium because he is concerned about the impact the development could have on city infrastructure.
“We went from like, no interest in this area, or very limited interest in the area, then all of a sudden, boom. You know, let’s hit the pause button for a second, let’s regroup. Let’s figure out what our taxpayers want to see there,” Ruhland says.
City leaders say the moratorium impacts at least two developments that have been discussed in recent months.
One of those projects is the Madinah Lakes project from Zikar Holdings.
The project would build hundreds of homes, several businesses and a mosque on a 156-acre plot of land.
Zikar Holdings and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) argue the new moratorium was passed to keep the Madinah Lakes project out of Lino Lakes.
“This particular action is discriminatory. We believe the city acted in bad faith and the leadership is acting in bad faith,” CAIR Executive Director Jaylani Hussein said during a recent press conference.
Zikar Holdings President Faraaz Yussuf argues city leaders are trying to stop his project because it includes a mosque and is backed by Muslims.
“We urge the city council to right the wrongs thus far, and not to go down this path of continued injustice,” Yussuf said during a recent press conference.
Ruhland strongly denies any racial motives behind the moratorium.
“They basically were saying we are Islamophobic if we do a moratorium, that we are stopping the development. Nobody is stopping it,” Ruhland says.
“Then we have all of these speakers come in from other towns that aren’t our residents who are coming in and saying we are being Islamophobic. It’s so far from it and that’s why I finally had to start speaking out about it.”
Ruhland says the moratorium will give the city time to conduct testing and reviews and to see how development would affect traffic and water use in the city.
He says the city council has passed three moratoriums over the last three years.
He argues many residents are deeply concerned about all major developments in the city, so it’s important for city council members to ensure the city is growing at an appropriate pace.
“We’re just trying to be smart about what that area ultimately looks like, how it’s laid out, how it’s designed,” Ruhland says.
Yussuf says Zikar Holdings is disappointed, but not surprised the Lino Lakes City Council has decided to pursue a one-year moratorium.
He says, “We aren’t going anywhere” and that the project could still happen “even if we have to wait one year or three years.”
When asked about the relationship between city council members and Zikar Holdings moving forward, Ruhland had this to say:
"The door is still open, but let’s maybe take a step back and double-check the narrative here because it’s not what he’s saying it is, and what the people he’s associating with are accusing this council and its citizens of."
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