Paragon Might close

I don't know what Kyle or Steph did or didn't do, but I think it's rather suspect that the commissioners of Schuylkill county knew nothing about this planned air cargo port, which will be built on a portion of their county land, prior to the press conference held last week. I guess I'm just a dumb redneck (since I own a Jeep), but why keep an endeavour this big a secret??? Just my observation.

Randy

come one people.... just don't read half the artical... read it all..... "Gladstone has never produced evidence it is acting in place of PCA Corp. and no evidence of the rent not being paid and the proper information not being turned over." heres the artical....

Paragon’s appeal denied, but owner not quitting

Lycoming judge sitting in for Judge Conahan sides with landlord in lease dispute.

By STEVE MOCARSKY smocarsky@timesleader.com

WILKES-BARRE – The owner of the Paragon off-road-vehicle park says he may have lost a battle in court on Wednesday, but he hasn’t lost the war.

Sitting in for Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Conahan, Lycoming County Senior Judge Clinton Smith dismissed an appeal that Kyle Knosp, owner of Paragon Adventure Park, filed against Gladstone Partners L.P. in an eviction case involving a lease dispute.

Gladstone, a company formed by former Hazleton Mayor Michael Marsicano and business partners Robert Powell and Gregory Zappala, sued Knosp last year, claiming he breached his lease with land owner PCA Corp.

Gladstone wants to build a cargo airport on 4,800 acres of land in Luzerne, Schuylkill and Carbon counties, but Paragon has a 25-year lease on part of that land. Gladstone is claiming in a lawsuit that Knosp breached the lease and it wants him evicted.

Gladstone attorney Jill Moran of the Powell Law Group said Knosp damaged the land and failed to make rent payments to PCA and produce financial documents. Knosp denies all charges.

Gladstone won the case in district court in August, when District Judge Thomas Sharkey awarded Gladstone $36,148.35 and upheld the eviction.

Knosp’s attorney, James Scallion, petitioned Luzerne County Court to lower the award, saying district court judgments are limited to $8,000. Judge Hugh Mundy lowered the award to $7,648.35 in October, and Scallion filed an appeal of Sharkey’s overall ruling in November.

On Wednesday, Gladstone attorney Stephen Seach argued that Knosp’s appeal should be dismissed because it wasn’t filed within 30 days of Sharkey’s ruling as required by law.

Scallion argued that an order for a stay in proceedings allowed him to file the appeal up to 30 days after Mundy’s ruling.

In his ruling, Smith focused on the timing of the appeal.

“The Court … does not have jurisdiction to hear an appeal that was not timely filed. The court may not enlarge the amount of time to file an appeal,” Smith said before dismissing the appeal.

Smith declined comment after Wednesday’s proceedings.

Scallion said the dismissal allows him to pursue a writ he filed along with the petition to reduce the judgment. The writ asks the court to review Sharkey’s ruling.

Scallion said the writ addresses three issues: that the plaintiffs “offered no evidence” to support their claims in the case before Sharkey; that Sharkey had no jurisdiction to hear the case because Knosp’s business office is in Schuylkill County; and that Gladstone never proved it had legal standing to sue as “successors in interest” to PCA.

Knosp said the legal fight is “far from done. … Right now, it’s David versus Goliath. But, you know, David still has a chance.”

At a press conference on the cargo airport earlier Wednesday, state Rep. Todd Eachus, D-Butler Township, stated Gladstone had gained “control of the property” needed for the project.

Asked about Paragon, Eachus said the lease dispute is “a very small, marginal issue compared to the scope and the size” of the airport project. He said a “small ATV and recreational park” is not the focus of his concerns, given the “future-altering” potential of the airport project.

“Are we going to let some ATV advocates hold up the biggest economic development project in Northeastern Pennsylvania? I hope not. … I’m hoping at the end of the day, there’s a way to resolve this,” Eachus said.

Judge backs cargo airport advocate in land dispute http://www.standardspeaker.com…s/emailButton.pngThursday, 01 February 2007 By JIM DINO

WILKES-BARRE — A judge said too much time elapsed before the owner of an off-road vehicle adventure park filed an appeal to a magistrate’s decision to give title to a portion of the park’s land to a developer.
But the attorney representing the owner of Paragon Adventure Park said he had filed another court proceeding that will allow an appeal of the decision.
After a 40-minute hearing, Lycoming County Senior Judge Clinton Smith ruled that too much time had gone by for Paragon to appeal District Judge Thomas Sharkey’s decision to give title to 2,500 of the 4,200 acres Paragon leases from PCA Corp. to Gladstone Partners, developers who are believed to be putting together a land deal for a proposed cargo airport west of the Humboldt Industrial Park in Luzerne and Schuylkill counties.
Smith ruled to strike the appeal – thus making Sharkey’s original decision to evict Knosp from the property valid – but attorney James Scallion said he had filed a writ of certiorari, which will allow him to appeal Wednesday’s decision.
“The law in Pennsylvania is clear,” Smith said. “An appeal of a district justice’s decision must be made within 30 days. This appeal was filed over 90 days afterward.”
Attorney Stephen A. Seach of the Powell Law Group – which shares the same address as Gladstone Partners – represented Gladstone in the court hearing.
Seach said under the lease agreement between PCA Corp. and Overland Enterprises, which is Paragon, Paragon was to pay $2,500 per month plus a percentage of its profits.
Seach contended that Kyle Knosp, operator of Paragon, did not turn over financial records for PCA to determine the percentage of Paragon’s profits it was entitled to.
Seach also told the court Paragon had not provided proof of insurance and did not make its rental payments.
Seach said that last March, when PCA informed Knosp the firm was selling the land, PCA made an offer to Knosp to buy the land at the same price – $9,000 per acre. When Knosp declined, PCA told Knosp the lease was being terminated because of “breaches and violations.”
Sharkey ruled in Gladstone’s favor to the tune of $36,184.35 and ordered Overland’s eviction.
But Overland appealed in Luzerne County Court, claiming a district judge cannot make a judgment over $8,000.
So Luzerne County Judge Hugh Mundy lowered the judgment to $7,648.35, but Knosp again appealed, creating Wednesday’s hearing.
“We have a squatter conducting a business on land he has no right to be on,” Seach said. “The notice of appeal was filed 104 days after the (Sharkey) judgement.”
But Scallion told the court Gladstone has never produced evidence it is acting in place of PCA Corp. and no evidence of the rent not being paid and the proper information not being turned over.
“For one year, we have requested, and demanded, a written sales agreement (between PCA and Gladstone),” Scallion told the court. “They haven’t done it.
“Before District Justice Sharkey, they provided zero evidence they (Gladstone) are the successors (of PCA). They (Gladstone) have no standing.”
Scallion also said most of this property in question is in Schuylkill County, while Sharkey is the district judge for Hazle Township, Luzerne County.
He also questioned the rent Gladstone is contending was owed.
“Where in God’s name did they get this number ($36,000)?” Scallion asked.