BONNER COUNTY, Idaho – Neighbors near a dirt bike park in Bonner County are raising concerns as the park continues to operate after losing its permit in June. Residents have voiced frustrations about the heavy traffic brought into their rural area.
Jeff Stephens, a property owner in Sagle, Idaho, expressed his discontent.
“It’s like the wild Wild West,” he said. Stephens and others are troubled by the Panhandle Bike Ranch continuing to welcome guests despite its permit revocation.
“The fact we picked there for peace and quiet and all of a sudden here comes a commercial bike park right in the neighborhood,” said Stephens.
According to the Panhandle Bike Ranch’s website, they operate as an “invite only” family-owned park that accepts donations.
Stephens is determined to fight for his community.
“Sweet like, this is not what we all invested our lives in and money. We wanted rural way of life,” he said. The location of the park is a major issue for him. “I sat there and I thought ‘this is wrong. This is completely wrong’ and so I decided to fight for those people in that neighborhood,” Stephens said.
The court revoked the park’s permit after neighbors argued that Bonner County commissioners did not thoroughly review the bike park’s plans before granting a “recreational facility” business permit. The Kalbachs family, who owns the park, purchased land in Five Lakes Estates, a neighborhood zoned as residential.
Neighbors argued that the Panhandle Bike Ranch should be classified as a resort, even though it does not offer lodging or food, which the land is not zoned for.
An Instagram post from the park shortly after the court ruling expressed their frustration.
“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. We’re stuck in the middle not being able to open a business that we have invested millions of dollars into, not to mention over a year of intense work to try to open this business as quickly as we could for the community,” the statement read.
Despite the ruling, the park continues to hold private events where supporters and community members can request invitations.
NonStop Local reached out to both the Bonner County Commissioners Office and the Panhandle Bike Ranch for a statement but has not received a response yet.
