One month after Manheim Township commissioners approved construction of a new shopping center near Long's Park, opponents are moving to block it.
Harrisburg attorney William J. Cluck, acting on behalf of Dori Dianna and Michael Stephenson of Farmingdale Road, has filed suit in Lancaster County Court, asking that the approval of The Crossings at Conestoga Creek be reversed.
High Family Partnership, which wants to develop the 90-acre parcel opposite Long's Park, known as the Deisley tract, plans to spend $100 million to build a 650,000 square-foot shopping complex that will consist of 45 commercial lots ranging from 500 square feet to 132,000 square feet in four main buildings.
The project requires traffic improvements to the Harrisburg Pike/Route 30 interchange at a cost of $27 million, which High has yet to come up with.
The township, High Partnership, the project's opponents and concerned residents sat through 15 hearings between June 6 and Jan. 30 before the board handed down its approval April 14. The board voted 3 to 2 in favor.
The suit, filed Wednesday afternoon, lists a number of reasons to reverse the decision, including an allegation that two of the township commissioners, Michael Flanagan and Carol Simpson, were biased on behalf of the developer.
The suit claims that in a letter dated Feb. 28, 2006, Simpson, on behalf of the township, wrote to U.S. Rep. Joseph Pitts, asking for federal support for the Route 30 interchange improvements. Cluck contends Simpson did this even though the project itself had yet to be "publicly announced" and that Simpson told Pitts, "[w]e are working in close partnership with High Real Estate Group to advance the project."
According to newspaper records, High unveiled its proposal March 23, 2006.
The suit further states that on Aug. 29, 2006, township manager James T. Martin wrote to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development requesting state funding for the project and that High Partnership was working with the township's planning commission to amend the zoning codes to allow for a planned commercial development. The Crossings at Conestoga Creek would be permissible under that zoning.
The township approved the zoning amendment Nov. 13, 2006.
On Dec. 8, 2006, the suit says, the township's General Municipal Authority approved the application for $15 million in funding from DCED for roadway improvements for the project. Flanagan is a member of that authority.
For those reasons, Cluck said, Simpson and Flanagan should have recused themselves from the April 14 vote. If they had, he said, the proposal would have been defeated 2 to 1, with Commissioner Larry Downing voting in favor and commissioners Rick Casselbury and Nancy Keebler casting the 'no' votes.
The suit contends that due process of the law requires that the finder of fact "not only be unbiased but must avoid even the appearance of bias."
Cluck's suit also says he was not allowed to cross-examine Simpson on her alleged support of the project. He also wrote in the suit that he was denied a request "for a subpoena to be issued to (High) to produce, among other things, all relevant documents pertaining to roadway improvement funding." Specifically, he wanted to see "all documents related to discussions or meetings with Manheim Township Board of Commissioners and/or township staff" that referred to discussions with state and federal government officials "or their staff."
The road improvement project did win the support of U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey in August.
Benjamin H. Bamford, senior development manager for High, had not seen the suit Wednesday. He said the move is in keeping with Cluck's strategy for opposing the project.
"Delay has been his tactic from the beginning, and he made that known at the very start of the hearings," Bamford said. "We went through 15 hearings, providing all the information that was asked of us."
None of the commissioners could be reached Wednesday for comment.
E-mail: lalexander@lnpnews.com