Stored Procedure SELECT INTO Parameter

I want to return a value from a select statement in a stored procedure - I was told in another thread to avoid using cursors whenever possible.  I've got the following syntax that does not work.. I just want to have the output parameter receive the PermitNo field returned from the query...  What's wrong with this syntax, the error returned is:

Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Procedure GetNexPermitNo, Line 20
Incorrect syntax near '@PermitNumber'.

USE [SQLBurnPermit]
GO
/****** Object:  StoredProcedure [dbo].[GetNexPermitNo]    Script Date: 08/13/2010 14:36:21 ******/
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO
-- =============================================
-- Author:		<Author,,Name>
-- Create date: <Create Date,,>
-- Description:	<Description,,>
-- =============================================
ALTER PROCEDURE [dbo].[GetNexPermitNo] 
	@PermitNumber varchar(15) output
	-- Add the parameters for the stored procedure here
	-- <@Param1, sysname, @p1> <Datatype_For_Param1, , int> = <Default_Value_For_Param1, , 0>, 
	-- <@Param2, sysname, @p2> <Datatype_For_Param2, , int> = <Default_Value_For_Param2, , 0>
AS
BEGIN
	-- SET NOCOUNT ON added to prevent extra result sets from
	-- interfering with SELECT statements.
	SET NOCOUNT ON;

    -- Insert statements for procedure here
	--DECLARE contact_cursor SCROLL CURSOR FOR

	SELECT TOP 1 PermitNo INTO @PermitNumber 
	FROM tblPermits 
	ORDER BY PermitNo;
	--OPEN contact_cursor asc;

-- Perform the first fetch and store the values in variables.
-- Note: The variables are in the same order as the columns
-- in the SELECT statement. 

	--FETCH LAST FROM contact_cursor
	--INTO @PermitNumber;

	RETURN -- @PermitNumber;

	-- SELECT <@Param1, sysname, @p1>, <@Param2, sysname, @p2>

--CLOSE contact_cursor;
--DEALLOCATE contact_cursor;

END

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