Camp Hill council conspired to keep Chick-fil-A out of town, former manager says

A Wormleysburg-based real estate developer is asking Commonwealth Court to reevaluate a case involving the opening of a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Camp Hill.

Mike Serluco, founder and owner of developer Consolidated Properties, filed an Application for Remand with the court, asking it to consider additional evidence for an appeal that it denied last year.

Attorney’s Helen Gemmill and Charles Courtney with McNees, Wallace & Nurick, cited a recent affidavit given by former Camp Hill Borough Manager Patrick Dennis in which he says Borough Council held a private meeting in 2019 in violation of the state Sunshine Law to discuss the development of Seluco’s Chick-fil-A restaurant.

According to Dennis, a majority of the council met privately in January or February, 2019, after strong public opposition to the proposal surfaced at a public meeting on Dec. 13, 2018.

“At this private meeting,” the affidavit reads, “and in violation of the Sunshine Act and against my admonition, Borough Council members engaged in discussion about the Application and public outcry against it and conspired to ensure that the review of the Application would be as difficult as possible so as to preclude the Application’s approval, including having discussions about hiring special counsel for the Borough specifically to identify and pursue reasons to challenge the application.”

The Pennsylvania Sunshine Act requires agencies to take official action during a public meeting.

Dennis was borough manager from 2016 to 2020.

“The allegations in the Application for Remand are fundamentally incorrect,” said Council President Leigh Twiford, and the request will be challenged in court.

Serluco’s initial appeal of council’s decision to deny approval for the restaurant claimed the decision was not based on land use and development requirements.

The court denied the appeal in November, 2020, saying the record did not support Serluco’s claims that council acted in bad faith when it reviewed the plan. The court also rejected Serluco’s claim that council lacked legal justification to deny it.

In the affidavit Dennis says “there was no intention to work with or discuss fairly the issues with Serluco in good faith.”

“From the time of the illegal executive session until the denial of the application by Borough Council in December 2019, Borough Council maintained its hidden agenda to challenge the application and ensure its ultimate denial,” the affidavit reads. “Further, to neutralize the property and preclude its development as a restaurant with drive-thru service, Borough Council members further conspired to prepare and fast-track a zoning amendment that would preclude the construction of a drive-thru restaurant on the property.”

When asked about the affidavit, Dennis deferred to Serluco’s attorneys.

“It isn’t my fight,” he said. “This is between the developer and the borough. I was asked to explain the process and I did.”

Serluco’s property at the southeast corner of 32nd and Chestnut streets faced opposition during the application process from nearby residents who were worried about how the restaurant would impact traffic.

“I love Camp Hill, and I’ve dedicated most of my life to this area,” Serluco said. “I never dreamed I’d get railroaded by a Borough Council hell-bent on stifling economic progress at all costs — including breaking the law.”