BOCC denies building permit for Panhandle Bike Ranch

By Soncirey Mitchell
Reader Staff

The Bonner County Board of Commissioners voted 2-0 on Jan. 20 to deny an application for a building location permit for the Panhandle Bike Ranch in Sagle, reaffirming an administrative decision made by the Bonner County Planning Department in November of 2025. The proposed commercial building would have housed the property’s welcome center and bathrooms.

The Ranch’s more than 170-acre property is zoned Rural 10, meaning commercial uses require a conditional use permit approved by the BOCC. However, developers argue that, though the proposed building is labeled as a “commercial nonprofit accessory structure” in the application, PBR — which the Internal Revenue Service is considering for nonprofit status — is not a commercial entity.

PBR applied for and received a CUP in 2024, giving owners Scott and Jennifer Kalbach authority to construct a downhill mountain biking course classified as a commercial “recreational facility” under county code. Nearby residents repeatedly challenged the approval, and in June of 2025, the First Judicial Court of Idaho found that the county “failed to list facts supporting its decision” to approve the permit and subsequently vacated the CUP. The park operated throughout the summer without the CUP by accepting donations, rather than user fees and subscriptions, and thereby eliminating the commercial aspect of the organization. During that time, the county issued one notice of zoning violation due to language on the organization’s website that required an “obligatory donation,” which the county considered an “admission fee,” according to the notice.

Rather than reapply for the CUP, organizers filed articles of incorporation with the state to become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in September of 2025. The application was still pending as of press time; however, PBR’s land use counsel, Elizabeth Koeckeritz of Boise-based Givens Prusley LLP, said Jan. 20 that “there’s no reason why they wouldn’t receive” nonprofit status.

PBR subsequently requested that the county change the organization’s land use designation from a recreational facility to a “park,” which Bonner County Revised Code 12-816 defines as a “noncommercial facility designed to serve the recreational needs of the residents of the community.” Because a park is already an approved land use in Rural 10 zones, PBR would no longer require a CUP to operate or apply for a BLP.

The Planning Department and Interim Planning Director Alex Feyen denied the request to reclassify the organization, and subsequently denied the BLP for a commercial building due to the lack of an approved CUP.

Though Koeckeritz argued that the BOCC had the final say in the classification, county legal counsel advised that, as per BCRC 12-331, the planning director “shall have the authority to make the final determination based on the characteristics of the operation of the proposed use.”

“The applicant’s appeal appears to be in direct conflict with BCRC 11-1169(b), which provides that an administrative appeal shall not be granted if it would function as a grant of special privilege or to provide an exception to the regulations contained within this code,” said Feyen at the Jan. 20 meeting. “By challenging the planning director’s final determination of the proposed use, the applicant is effectively requesting an exception to the regulations.”

Commissioners Brian Domke and Ron Korn agreed that the applicant could not appeal the planning director’s ruling to the BOCC and voted to uphold the staff decision. Commissioner Asia Williams was absent.

According to a Jan. 26 newsletter, PBR has already filed a “legal challenge” to the interpretation.