SAGLE, Idaho— Several Sagle residents are advocating against plans to build a mountain bike park in the rural community.
Wednesday, long-time residents came out in numbers to a public meeting at the Bonner County Administration building to oppose the proposed Panhandle Bike Ranch.
Construction would begin next month on the 170.66 acre mountain bike park.
The concern amongst some residents is that this will disrupt Sagle’s peaceful and rural atmosphere.
“My land butts up real close to this monstrosity,” Susan Russell, a Sagle resident and opponent of the bike park, said.
The site is the brainchild of park developer and Sagle resident Scott Kalbach.
“This isn’t some corporate owned business with big investors…[we are] funding out of our own finances,” Kalbach said.
The City of Sandpoint told NonStop Local that it is not involved in this project. However, Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm attended the meeting Wednesday, spoke and provided representation on behalf of Kalbach.
Aside from being the Mayor of Sandpoint, Kalbach is the owner of Whiskey Rock Planning and Consulting. He wrote the bike park’s conditional use permit application and has been helping the family with this project.
“I believe there are just a handful of affected property owners,” Grimm said to the meeting attendees.
“These commercial…downhill bike parks are normally found at ski resorts…or mountain resorts…And it’s a rural, residential zoned neighborhood,” Jeff Stephens, a Sagle resident and opponent of the bike park, said.
Stephens told NonStop Local he learned of the bike park roughly three weeks ago and that it has caused him stress.
Another resident, Trevor Miller, also voiced his concerns to NonStop Local.
“The residents will be impacted financially…environmentally. We just want answers,” Miller said.
Stephens argues that this project will ruin the dream of residents who just want to live a rural life.
“It’s a great idea. Wrong location,” Stephens said.
Some Sagle residents support the proposal. Glen Badoux and Henry Larson are two young mountain bikers. They hope to get jobs at the bike park and think this will be a great spot to pursue their love of biking.
“I’m really excited for it to be there. Schweitzer is more rocky and not super flowy. This place is gonna be more flow,” Badoux said.
It is not currently clear whether the bike park project will move forward.
