Stan tells me that the final settlement papers are on his desk — he won — but won what?
For those that haven’t been following this saga for the past three years here’s an update.
Stan Cramer and his family own Cramer Airport Parking which is adjacent to Harrisburg International Airport in Harrisburg, PA. He’s been parking cars there for years, and also owns the local Budget Rent a Car operation. He has a good deal, and he has a great location. To get to the airport, you must drive by his parking operation.
The airport just opened a new parking garage and its not full. So it began to look around for ways to fill it.
The airport manager at the time realized that if Cramer wasn’t there, he would have more cars in his garage. So he sat about to buy Cramer Airport Parking. The offer was ridiculous. Stan says that he really isn’t ready to retire and has members of his family to carry on, so he would need a good offer. He turned down the airport.
So the airport began proceedings to take his property by eminent domain. It was a clear violation of Stan’s rights. They simply wanted him out of business. He fortunately had the resources and time to fight them in court. He did and he was about to win, when, on the courthouse steps, the airport folded.
Seems the manager that was pushing this retired and the board took the high road and stopped the process. Stan most likely will get to keep his business and have all his expenses paid, and maybe more.
Now, the airport is trying to keep the local school district from taxing parking on the airport. It wants the district to tax Stan, but not them. The court just ruled against the airport. If they tax, they tax everyone. Stan says he has no problem competing on a level playing field. The school district says that it wants to tax the parking on the airport since the airport takes such a lot of tax generating land away from the district (airports don’t pay property tax). It would seem from that logic that the airport should pay and Stan shouldn’t, but Stan says just keep that field smooth and flat.
It was David vs Goliath and once again, the one with right on his side won.
Stan Cramer Rules!
JVH
