Ruling forces Paragon Park to shut down - 04/04/2007 - Paragon Outdoor Adventure Park, in Hazle Township, was effectively shut down for the second time in two months. The state Superior Court threw out an injunction Monday that allowed the park’s owners to use 2,500 acres involved in an ongoing lease dispute and touted as the future site of a proposed cargo airport.  Park owner Kyle Knosp said he plans to continue his fight against Gladstone Partners Inc., which has an option to purchase 4,300 acres in the Humboldt Industrial Park in Luzerne and Schuylkill counties from PCA Corp., where the park is located.  ... More  (The Citizens Voice)

OFF-ROAD-VEHICLE PARK FORCED TO CLOSE AGAIN COURT BRIEFS - April 5, 2007 - An off-road-vehicle park near Hazleton must shut down again after failing to file court documents in a case. The owner of Paragon Adventure Park has been embroiled in a legal battle with Gladstone Partners LP over the lease on the land. Gladstone said Paragon should be evicted from the land because it breached its 25-year lease. Gladstone plans on building a $1.6 billion cargo airport on part of the land. Paragon has denied breaching the contract. But a district judge still evicted Paragon from the land. (The Times Leader, Wilkes Barre, PA)

Media should focus on loss of Paragon - Feb. 18, 2007 - After a failed attempt to contact state Rep. Todd A. Eachus, I would like to encourage the media to spotlight the feelings of the off-road community.  Off-roading is not just a hobby, it is a passion. And this passion boosts local economy tremendously. You may not know this, but Paragon Adventure Park attracts visitors from all over the nation.  It has a well-known name and great reputation as one of the best off-road parks east of the Mississippi River. A Mississippi resident, I have made the long journey to visit the park and it was worth every penny.  I spent my hard-earned dollars on hotel fees, eating at local restaurants, fuel from the local gas stations, and other miscellaneous items. There are thousands upon thousands of people that also spend their hard-earned money on building their off-road vehicles to take on these long trips to enjoy their favorite pastime.  This is bigger than just money. You can’t take away a person’s passion. The landlord obviously will be getting a large sum of money for selling this property, but in doing so, he is twisting the truth to portray law-abiding and lease-abiding Kyle Knosp, owner of Paragon Adventure Park, as being irresponsible.  The argument is that the off-road park is endangering the environment, but how does that compare to building a huge cargo airport? How do a group of gas-powered Jeeps compare to the constant travel of shipping airplanes? They don’t.  Not to mention that a cargo airport will destroy hundreds of acres of well-maintained land. I hope that you can see that closing Paragon Adventure Park is a big mistake and that you shed some light on this matter so that others can see what is happening. - Chip Jones Gluckstadt, Miss.

Off-road park shutdown will have a ripple effect in hobby - Feb. 18, 2007 - Many have mentioned how much money has been left in the town of Hazleton while at Paragon Park, whether it be for food, shelter, fuel or what not.  But this goes even further than the city of Hazleton. We invest a lot of money into our rigs and the sport. This is our lifestyle that once again is taking a huge hit.  When there is nowhere legal to ride once again, what will be the point in participating in this sport? Ride on private land and face the fines, public judgment of how four-wheelers are destroying land?  Then when we selling off our toys, how will that affect the parts companies? How will this affect new developments in the engineering of the Jeeps, trucks and sport utility vehicles? You can’t believe that the industry will continue to improve in the off-road durability of vehicles if the consumers aren’t interested in that.  Maybe Jeep will start installing microwaves and coffee brewers for our soccer moms. (No offense meant to any wheeling soccer moms).  How about the relationships guys have made with their local parts and fabrication shops? What are those guys going to do? Certainly they’re not surviving by our cash alone, but I’m pretty sure they will notice when they lose a few hundred dollars of sales.  And why would I bother to purchase magazines or videos about this exciting sport if I cannot participate in it? Am I calling out the end of the world? No. However, why does it always seem that our hobby is never worthy? Go figure. - Michael Chwastyk Wilkes-Barre

Few winners, many losers in proposed cargo airport - Feb. 18, 2007 - The recent announcement that Gladstone Partners, state Rep. Eachus and the Luzerne County Commissioners intend to develop a cargo airport in lower Luzerne County should be a cause for concern to area residents.  Like many past economic development initiatives, it sounds at first like the answer to our prayers for a brighter future. But as the saying goes, “be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.”  The uncertain possibility of thousands of jobs obscures the many consequences of this project.  The project would obliterate thousands of acres of undeveloped open space. Much of this acreage is globally rare pitch pine barrens that are habitat for rare and endangered species.  The fact that Paragon Adventure Park is being evicted from the property is only the first instance of what will be sacrificed to an airport. That business attracts outdoor enthusiasts who bring economic benefits to the community and utilize environmental resources without destroying them. That is the kind of economic development our community leaders should be supporting.  Apparently, little of this resonates in a community whose leaders believe in jobs at any cost.  ... More ...

Closing of Paragon Park wrong on several levels  - Feb. 14, 2007 - I just wanted to say what is being done (with the Paragon Adventure Park) is wrong on many levels.  First off, do you want to tear down every last piece of wooded land in the state for industry?  The Humbolt Industrial Park is large enough. Trust me; I know. I work for a local electrical contractor who does a lot of work there.  Second, do you see how much revenue Paragon brings to the City of Hazleton, with hotel stays, restaurant visits, and purchases from local auto part stores and junk yards? And think of the decrease in sales at places that sell dirt bikes and ATVs if people don’t have a place to ride them legally.   Finally how would you like to live in the Eagle Rock community and have to listen to the cargo planes flying in and out 24 hours a day? I know people who live there and they are not happy about this decision at all.  I just don’t see any good reasons for the park to close. Life isn’t all about working and making money. People need a place to play too.  - Gary Ernest

Gladstone Partners requests court’s dismissal of injunction for ATV park  - Feb. 14, 2007 - Gladstone Partners filed a motion Tuesday to dissolve an injunction that allows all-terrain vehicle park to continue operations.  The injunction allows Paragon Adventure Park to remain on land near Hazleton, which is the proposed site for a cargo airport, while the park’s owner appeals an eviction ruling to state Superior Court.  Officials with Gladstone Partners of Butler Township say they have an option to buy 4,300 acres in Luzerne and Schuylkill counties from PCA Corp. for a proposed cargo airport. Gladstone Partners has proposed a $1.6 billion airport development project as a partnership with the state and county.  Gladstone Partners and PCA Corp. are the plaintiffs in the suit against ATV park owner Kyle Knosp. The plaintiffs claim Knosp breached a 25-year lease by failing to pay required rental fees to landowner PCA Corp.

Paragon land dispute - Park owner: I’m made out to be bad guy - Feb. 11, 2007 - Kyle Knosp says attempts to cooperate with supporters of the proposed cargo airport so he can keep his business in area have failed.  Paragon Adventure Park owner Kyle Knosp says statements made about him in an ongoing court battle with cargo airport promoters are unfair and damaging to his reputation.  “They got the press to say that I didn’t pay rent and I was a squatter. That was a blatant lie,” he said.  He said he believes he’s being portrayed as the bad guy who is standing in the way of progress.  “I’ve been willing to cooperate from the beginning with this,” he said. “People are saying, ‘Paragon or the airport’ instead of ‘Paragon and the airport.’ We should have been given the opportunity to co-exist. We tried to take the more peaceful route, but every time, we get hit with a bat.”  Knosp operates the off-road vehicle park on 4,350 acres of land he leases from PCA Corp. in Luzerne and Schuylkill counties.  Officials from Gladstone Partners L.P. announced on Jan. 30 that they want to build a cargo airport on 4,800 acres of land near the Humboldt Industrial Park, which turns out to be land partly occupied by Paragon. The $1.6 billion airport, they say, could bring 4,500 direct jobs and 100,000 ancillary jobs to the area. ... More ...

Judge upholds eviction ruling against Paragon - Feb. 9, 2007 - WILKES-BARRE — A judge Thursday upheld an eviction ruling against the owner of an all-terrain vehicle park, which is on land near Hazleton and is now the proposed site for a cargo airport.  James Scallion, an attorney representing Paragon Adventure Park, said he would appeal the ruling by Lycoming County Senior Judge Clinton Smith to state Superior Court. The ATV park can continue operating at the site while the dispute is being appealed because of an injunction granted by Luzerne County Judge Ann Lokuta this week, Scallion said.  Officials with Gladstone Partners of Butler Township say they have an option to buy 4,300 acres in Luzerne and Schuylkill counties from PCA Corp. for a proposed cargo airport. Gladstone Partners has proposed a $1.6 billion airport development project as a partnership with the state and county.  Gladston Partners and PCA Corp. are the plaintiffs in the suit against ATV park owner Kyle Knosp. The plaintiffs claim Knosp breached a 25-year lease by failing to pay required rental fees to landowner PCA Corp., and they want Knosp evicted. ... More ...

Paragon’s eviction appeal dismissed - Feb. 09, 2007 - Part of the land occupied by off-road vehicle park is eyed for $1.6 billion cargo airport.   The owner of Paragon Adventure Park near Hazleton lost another appeal on Thursday but vowed to take the issue to a higher court.  Lycoming County Senior Judge Clinton Smith granted a motion from Gladstone Partners L.P. to dismiss Kyle Knosp’s appeal of an August judgment and eviction issued by District Judge Thomas Sharkey in Hazle Township. Gladstone wants to have Knosp’s off-road vehicle park evicted from the property so it may build a $1.6 million cargo airport on part of the land. ... More ...

Judge allows Paragon on land - Feb. 08, 2007 - A Luzerne County judge Wednesday afternoon ordered the operator of an off-road vehicle park back on the land where he operated.   After a 90-minute hearing – and 30 minutes of deliberations – Luzerne County Common Pleas Judge Ann Lokuta ruled that Overland Enterprises, the operators of Paragon Adventure Park, be allowed back onto the 4800-acre parcel of land where the park operated until Monday, when the developers of a proposed cargo airport, Gladstone Partners LLP, took possession of the land after Lycoming County Senior Judge Clifford Smith last week upheld the decision of District Judge Thomas Sharkey, which gave Gladstone possession of about 250 acres of Paragon’s parcel. ... More ...

Paragon to keep land through appeals - Feb. 08, 2007 - Preliminary injunction granted Tuesday that favors offroad vehicle park owner Kyle Knosp to remain in effect Land dispute hearing Preliminary injunction granted Tuesday that favors offroad vehicle park owner Kyle Knosp to remain in effect.  Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Ann Lokuta made the ruling after hearing arguments on whether a preliminary injunction she imposed Tuesday, which barred Gladstone Partners L.P. from land occupied by the park, should remain in effect. ... More ...

Lokuta says Paragon can keep land until appeals have been exhausted - Feb. 07, 2007 - The owner of Paragon Adventure Park scored another victory in court today when a judge ruled that Kyle Knosp – the off-road-vehicle park owner – would keep possession of the park’s land until all appeals on a lease issue have been exhausted. ... More ...

Paragon owner gets land access - Feb. 07, 2007 -Preliminary injunction by Judge Ann Lokuta also bars Gladstone Partners L.P. from off-road vehicle park site.  A Luzerne County judge issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday granting the owner of Paragon Adventure Park access to his off-road vehicle park, where the gate was padlocked Monday by a group that wants to build a cargo airport on the site.  Judge Ann Lokuta also barred Gladstone Partners L.P. – the group that wants to build the airport – from using the site until further notice. Her order prohibits Gladstone from denying park owner Kyle Knosp access to his personal property at the park, located partly in Hazle Township and in East Union Township in Schuylkill County. ... More ...

Paragon owner granted injunction to retrieve personal property from park - Feb. 07, 2007 - A Luzerne County judge granted an injunction for Paragon Adventure Park owner Kyle Knosp on Tuesday, allowing him to return to the 2,500-acre park to retrieve equipment and other possession he left on the property, as he waits for a pending appeal to be heard Thursday in the ongoing lease dispute.  Judge Ann Lokuta granted the injunction, prohibiting Gladstone Partners L.P. from keeping Knosp away from his personal property on the land. Gladstone Partners has an option to buy 4,300 acres where the park lies from PCA Corp., as part of plans for a proposed $1.6 billion cargo airport in the Humboldt Industrial Park.  When Knosp lost a previous appeal Wednesday, he was told he had until Monday to get off the property. He went to the park Monday and discovered Gladstone Partners had locked the gates.  “They basically gave me four days to take down my business,” Knosp said ... More ...

Judge Lokuta allows Paragon owner access to site - Feb. 06, 2007 - A Luzerne County Judge has issued a preliminary injunction granting the owner of Paragon Adventure Park access to his off-road vehicle park, where the gate was padlocked Monday by a group who wants to build a cargo airport on the site. ...More...

Gladstone possesses Paragon land - Feb. 06, 2007 - Gladstone Partners L.P. – the group that wants to build a cargo airport on land partially used by Paragon Adventure Park – exercised a possession order and had the gates to the park padlocked on Monday. ... More ...

Hazleton park’s existence important to N.J. off-road club leader - Feb. 04, 2007 - I would like to bring to your attention a problem that is rising in Hazleton.  You might first ask yourself why I am concerned with a problem so far away from me. However, Hazleton is a home away from home to me. I am an owner of an off-road vehicle and Hazleton is home to Paragon Adventure Park. ... More ...

One last run at Paragon Park - Feb. 04, 2007 - Throttles were choked and tires were spitting snow in the air as hundreds of off-road enthusiasts brought their machines out for the Paragon Adventure Park benefit.  ... More ..

Closing of Hazleton park would hurt the sport of off-roading - Feb. 04, 2007 - I’m a 34-year-old professional who works in an office all day and looks forward to spending time outside with family and friends at Paragon Adventure Park on the weekends.  I’m writing in response to a post I read on the Paragon Web site. ... More ...

Cargo deal makes for familiar bedfellows - Feb. 03, 2007 - Removing some air traffic from a congested web of flight paths in the Northeast is a potential benefit of a cargo airport recently proposed for the Hazleton area.  But another web – one of political connections and deals – links some of the players involved in the $1.6 billion airport proposal made public on Wednesday by project developer Gladstone Partners, L.P. and state and county officials. ... More ...

Paragon Adventure Park permits legal four-wheeling fun - Feb. 03, 2007 - Paragon Adventure Park is an important part of the four-wheel-drive community in the Northeast. ... More ...

Paragon’s appeal denied, but owner not quitting - Jan. 31, 2007 - 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 – the owner of Paragon Adventure Park – filed against Gladstone Partners L.P. in an eviction case involving a lease dispute.  ... More ...

Cargo airport eyed for ATV park’s land - Jan. 31, 2007 - Gladstone Partners L.P. is suing owner of Paragon Adventure Park in Hazle Township to get land for facility, state source says.  The company suing the owner of an off-road vehicle park in Hazle Township wants to construct a multimillion-dollar cargo airport on the park’s leased land and adjacent land extending into Schuylkill and Carbon counties, a state source has confirmed. ... More ...

New judge to hear arguments in off-road park case - Jan. 29, 2007 - A Lycoming County judge will decide whether an appeal in a case involving an off-road park lease dispute connected to a $22 million land deal will continue or be dismissed. ... More ...