HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Developer Louis Breland has filed a court claim against Mike Culbreath claiming his former employee and current Huntsville school board member committed "economic espionage" against him, including stealing Cabela's to anchor a competing project.

The 31-page document alleges Culbreath used his knowledge of trade secrets and proprietary information and got help from a former City of Huntsville official to develop the Parkside Town Centre, while undermining negotiations for a joint venture between Huntsville and Madison as well as Breland's recruitment of Cabela's.

Huntsville school board member Mike Culbreath

Breland seeks financial damages from the loss of Cabela's, two hotels and Calhoun Community College, which the complaint said Culbreath was contractually obliged to bring to the Breland Family of Companies, but through his secret dealings with another developer, James B. Packard, went to Parkside Town Centre.

The complaint was filed Monday in Madison County Circuit Court, less than a week after Breland led a groundbreaking ceremony for the $400 million Town Madison development, involving much of the same property listed in the court case. It lists nine counts against the defendants, from breach of contract to civil conspiracy.

The defendants

Most of the allegations are made against Culbreath, but the complaint also lists Packard, and two limited liability companies, Attitude LLL and Mushashi LLC, as the defendants. More defendants could be added if further discoveries are made.

The complaint does not list former director of urban development for Huntsville Dallas Fanning as a defendant, but it does allege that Fanning promised to take the necessary action to cause Huntsville to vacate a large easement adjoining property adjoining the future Parkside development, which allowed Parkside to expand and recruit Cabela's away from Breland's development in Madison.

The complaint states:

"In order to attract Cabela's, Defendants needed to expand the Parkside Project. However, Defendants lacked the money to acquire additional property. Therefore, they conceived an elaborate scheme for Huntsville to finance the entire expansion of the Parkside Project under the guise of 'attracting Cabela's.' Defendants convinced Huntsville to participate in their scheme so it could have all of the tax revenues from Cabela's, not just the fifty percent it would have received through the Joint Venture."

Joint Huntsville-Madison venture

The joint venture involved Breland's Old Town LLC and the cities of Madison and Huntsville. The complaint said the venture had been negotiated for a couple of years and had reached an "agreement in principle" in 2009 that Huntsville would provide money for infrastructure improvements in exchange for half the tax revenue generated from the 276-acre project.

Breland claims that Culbreath used the cancelation of the joint venture, which spelled the end of infrastructure improvements , to sway Cabela's to choose Parkside as the site of its first superstore in Alabama.

AL.com has left phone messages with Culbreath, Fanning, Breland and Breland's attorneys and has not received a returned message.

Culbreath worked for Breland from April 2005 to July 2012, the complaint shows, and had access to all confidential information and trade secrets relating to Breland's residential and commercial developments; and his job was to identify potential developments for Breland.

"Culbreath intentionally and continuously committed blatant acts of economic espionage and self-dealing, misappropriating numerous business opportunities for himself, Defendants and their developments," the complaint shows.

Parkside easement vacated

A key part of the above accusations say that Culbreath and Packard obtained underpriced property on Governors West – belonging to Stan McDonald at the time -- because a utility and drainage easement blocked development.

On Feb. 3, 2009, Packard contracted to buy the property for $306,000, which amounted to 21 cents per square foot, the complaint shows. One contingency was the easement had to be vacated by the City of Huntsville, and on the eve of Fanning's retirement from Huntsville, he caused the city to vacate about 28 acres of the easement, leaving about 6 acres in place.

The Huntsville City Council subsequently authorized vacating the easement for no money, and Huntsville is now buying a portion of it back from the defendants for $2.1 million, the complaint shows, while also stating that Fanning is now employed by the defendants.

A few more "specious" parts of the actual and proposed transactions between defendants and Huntsville listed in the complaint:

Huntsville intends to pay Defendants $3.4 million for a 'landscape buffer' and right of way. "It is unprecedented for Huntsville to purchase property for landscaping between two commercial developments and a right of way – which Huntsville always requires developers to 'give to it."

Huntsville intends to pay defendants $2.1 million to expand the lake by Parkside, even though Huntsville had the right to expand its use of the lake through the easement when the Parkside Project materialized "(until Fanning caused Huntsville to vacate it. . .")

Huntsville will pay more than $1 million to "fill in" a portion of the lake, and then simultaneously pay to expand it on another side.On June 4, Cabela's announced it will begin construction this fall on an 80,000-square-foot superstore at Parkside Town Centre, an $80 million mixed-use project near the intersection of Interstate 565 and Research Park Boulevard at Governors West Road.

Shane Davis, director of urban development for Huntsville,

Breland also alleges that Culbreath engaged in other "unethical, deceitful and deceptive acts" by forming and participating in other competing projects, taking kickbacks and otherwise stealing from his companies.

'Common thieves'

"Culbreath and Defendants are nothing more than common thieves," the complaint shows. "All of the above referenced acts were actively concealed from the Breland Family of Companies and were not discovered until 2014."

Breland's Town Madison project is billed as bringing a much-needed retail tax base to Madison. Gov. Robert Bentley, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks and a team of state legislators joined City of Madison officials last week for a Town Madison groundbreaking ceremony. No one representing Huntsville was in attendance.

Last year, some Huntsville officials questioned why the state awarded the money for Kellner Road extension instead of funding more overpasses on South Memorial Parkway or the northern bypass.

In November 2013, AL.com reported on rumors that Breland was seeking to bring Cabela's to a development at Zierdt Road. That came on the heels of another AL.com story about the $7.8 million Kellner Road extension and how it nearly caused a large employer to leave when the roadway initially was routed on Dunlop Boulevard. The story questioned the necessity of the roadway when it didn't appear the City of Madison had a large development lined up.

"We would never build a road and hope something is going to happen there," Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said in the article. "It's backwards from what we would do."