That wasn't the deal at all. The TLDR was he wanted something original first, and felt they may be too similar to Miqo'te as pretty people with animal ears. So we got Au Ra.

Besides, I'm not sure how making a derivative of a popular race from Final Fantasy to add to Final Fantasy is "stepping on toes," especially if fans desire it.

That's like saying Chocobos being in more than one game is being inconsiderate to the first game to have them.