Court vacates CUP for Panhandle Bike Ranch in Sagle

By Soncirey Mitchell
Reader Staff

The First Judicial Court of Idaho ruled June 6 to vacate the conditional use permit for a recreational facility that the Bonner County board of commissioners granted to Panhandle Bike Ranch nearly a year ago. 

Judge Casey Simmons found that the county “failed to list facts supporting its decision” to approve the permit and remanded the decision to the BOCC just days before the scheduled Friday, June 13 opening.

As of press time, the BOCC had not scheduled a public hearing, and PBR owners Scott and Jennifer Kalbach announced via the business’ Instagram page that planned summer operations were largely on hold.

The Bonner County hearing examiner held a public meeting on, and later approved, the CUP in April 2024, allowing the Kalbachs to build the downhill mountain bike course in the area’s Rural 10 zoning. The decision divided Sagle residents, and neighboring property owners ultimately appealed, arguing that the increased traffic on the dirt road to the park would be detrimental to their quality of life and property values due to increased pollution, dust and noise, among other concerns.

The BOCC held another meeting in June, later voting to affirm the hearing examiner’s decision. Neighbors then made a formal request for reconsideration, which the board denied, leading the property owners to enter into litigation against the county.

A view from the Panhandle Bike Ranch property in Sagle. Courtesy photo.

The CUP was contingent on the fact that the business would be considered a recreational facility under Bonner County Revised Code 12-818, which is defined as, “A place designed and equipped for the conduct of small-scale and low-intensity sports, leisure time activities and other customary and usual recreational activities.” 

The code further lists rafting, cross-country skiing, horseback riding and snowmobiling as appropriate “low-intensity sports.”

“An opposition group has been fighting against us, claiming that we are a resort even though we have no lodging, restaurants, spas or many other characteristics of what you would expect from a resort. Resorts are not allowed in our property zoning, so this opposition group has been using this false claim to try to stop our business,” the Kalbachs wrote June 4 on the PBR Instagram page.

Opponents of the park, represented by Boise-based attorney Norman Semanko, argued that mountain biking did not qualify as a “low-intensity sport” and that the property was better classified as a commercial resort, which is not allowed in Rural 10 zones.

BCRC 12-818 defines a commercial resort as an “area privately owned, devoted primarily to outdoor recreational uses conducted for profit, which may include, but are not limited to, such as: swimming, boating, fishing, hunting, camping, picnicking, winter sports and similar uses.”

“This is a family-built bike park that we want to enjoy with the community,” Jennifer Kalbach told the Reader.

The court did not rule on whether the bike park qualified as a recreational facility or commercial resort, but found that the county’s “lack of sufficient findings prejudices the petitioner’s due process rights to judicial review” and, therefore, violated Idaho Code 67-6535. Essentially, the county did not clearly cite the reasons for declaring it a recreational facility and consequently did not give the court “sufficient findings or reasoning to review.”

“It’s an incredibly frustrating situation because we followed all of the rules and this really just comes down to technicality nonsense between Bonner County and this judge,” wrote the Kalbachs on Instagram.

The court further found that the county did not provide evidence that PBR satisfied requirements for “adequate water supply for fire suppression” or drinking water stipulated by BCRC 12-333. The board declared that, by virtue of the park falling within the bounds of the Sagle Fire District and the condition that the Kalbachs dig a well, PBR had met the fire suppression requirements. 

Still, the BOCC did not set a specific output that the well would need to produce to qualify as “adequate,” and neither Selkirk nor Sagle Fire responded to the county’s notice of application.

“In essence, there is nothing in the record affirmatively demonstrating whether adequate water supply exists for fire suppression,” Simmons stated in the ruling.

As with the recreational facility designation, the court did not rule on whether PBR fulfilled the water requirements, only that the BOCC did not provide enough proof.

“The judge could have just sent it back to the county commissioners and asked them to fix any issues while leaving our existing permit intact. Instead, Judge Simmons completely revoked our permit 10 days before we open to the public,” according to the Kalbachs’ Instagram post.

Though the park’s future is uncertain, PBR will still host 60-person open houses Saturday, June 7 and Sunday, June 8, to open the park up to the community. The future of 2025 summer operations remains uncertain, but Jennifer Kalbach told the Reader that the family is considering opening the park to the public for free, if possible, while they sort out any legal issues. Season pass holders will likely receive a refund in the coming weeks.

“Even though we are devastated by this terrible decision, we want the community to know that we will not give up on this business,” the Kalbachs stated. “The bike park is already built, and we will not walk away from providing this amazing bike park experience to the community.”