Madison County residents fight for Yellowstone Safari Park zoning changes
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REXBURG — Over a month after opening, Yellowstone Safari Park still faces backlash from Madison County residents who believe the county has disregarded its own zoning laws, allowing the park to run in an agricultural zone rather than a commercial zone.
Yellowstone Safari Park, which has been open since mid-September, defines itself as a “self-guided safari park drive with animals visible close-up.” Its owner, Jared Sommer, says the county has repeatedly labeled the business as a “game ranch” that houses animals for ticket-buyers to visit via a drive-thru.
The plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in March against Madison County say Safari Park can’t be labeled as a game ranch because of the lack of definition in Madison County code. They also claim that the park is running a commercial organization in an agricultural zone.
What’s a game ranch?
Cory Carter, one of the 53 plaintiffs in the new lawsuit, says it isn’t necessarily Yellowstone Safari Park they’re upset with – it’s the county.
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The plaintiffs say in March 2021, then-Madison County Planning Department Administrator Bradley Petersen met with Sommer and reportedly gave verbal approval for a “game ranch” to be developed on the Safari Park property, according to court documents.
Carter says the park was classified as a game ranch by Madison County Planning and Zoning Department because, at the time, Yellowstone Safari Park was only understood to include animals “such as elk and deer.”
Later, when the plaintiffs learned it was going to be a larger operation, beyond just “elk and deer,” they opted to take the issue to the courts.
According to Sommer, the park now includes “fox from the red fox family that are in as many as 40 different colors and patterns, a real-life wolf pack, beautiful bears with coats that are naturally bleached, bison that are both the standard brown in color as well as the very rare white bison, a herd of deer, and an elk herd with the herd bull possessing a rare non-typical rack of at least eight points.”
In August 2022, Carter, Daniele McInnes, and 54 other plaintiffs filed a petition for a judicial review, asking District Judge Steven Boyce to look at the county’s decision to designate the park as a game ranch and allow it to operate on agricultural land.
The plaintiffs argue Yellowstone Safari Park is a commercial business, similar to Yellowstone Bear World, which is also in Madison County.
Yellowstone Bear World is a classified as a commercial operation, run in a commercial zone. Like Safari Park, Bear World provides opportunities for the public to pay for a ticket and see wildlife via a drive-thru.
The two operations are dissimilar in that Safari Park’s location — 2246 West 4000 Road North — is within an agricultural zone.
In March 2023, Boyce ruled he could not make a formal decision for the judicial review because the plaintiffs did not have the grounds to challenge the park being classified as a game ranch.
Boyce dismissed the judicial review, stating in his opinion although the plaintiffs have valid concerns, “concerns, no matter how valid, are not a distinct palpable injury that is fairly traceable to the purported failing of Madison County to investigate or regulate the actions of Yellowstone Safari Park.”
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“(Boyce) actually said, in his opinion, ‘I don’t have any authority to do anything here, so the plaintiffs don’t have standing, because there wasn’t a formal decision made.’ However, he said, ‘Based on what I’ve seen, it seems like this may be a commercial operation,’” says Carter. “So we immediately filed another suit.”
Among the concerns brought up by the plaintiffs was that there were so many different types of animals now at the facility.
On March 24, 2023, the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit against Madison County, seeking a change in zoning if Yellowstone Safari Park continues to be run as what they believe to be a commercial operation.
“We’re suing the county, saying that you are authorizing a commercial activity in an agricultural zone. You can’t do that, according to county code. So what we’re asking them to do is to stop the Safari Park from any activities until they submit an application to have the zoning changed to a commercial zone and go through the process,” says Carter. “Have a public hearing, go through planning and zoning, it goes through the commissioners, etc. That’s what we’re asking.”
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On the other side, Sommer believes that his game ranch is agricultural and maintains that the park has gone through all necessary legal processes to be up and running in an agricultural zone.
“The county has repeatedly confirmed Yellowstone Safari Park’s compliance with zoning ordinance as a game ranch, which was upheld in district court by judge ruling in March of this year,” says Sommer in an email to EastIdahoNews.com “When these opposers lost the first case, they filed a second litigation effort.”
On the fence
Also a concern to the plaintiffs is the height of the fencing surrounding the animals at Safari Park, referencing the dangers that could occur if animals were to escape.
Sommer said the fencing and care for the animals is up to code and “a priority effort in every way.”
“The care that Yellowstone Safari Park gives to its animals is a priority effort in every way. Evidence of this is to see the interaction of the owner of the Safari Park with the bears and wolves, as a very visual example which some have had the luxury to witness,” says Sommer. “The Yellowstone Safari Park grounds, fencing, animal watering system and the innumerable details in maintaining the game ranch is singular and without duplication anywhere (as far as we are aware, and we have visited a number of game ranch facilities around the country).”
Carter and the plaintiffs in the case disagree, comparing it to a 2016 incident in which a wolf escaped its enclosure at Yellowstone Bear World.
“If you go out there and look at the fencing system, it’s way less than what Bear World has, for example,” says Carter. “If you look at Bear World, in order to enter their park, they have 8-foot electric gates that you have to go through. If you look at Yellowstone Safari Park, they’ve got these little $150 goat gates, the green ones you buy at Cal Ranch that you open and close by hand. That’s not gonna keep anything out. It won’t even keep a goat out.”
EastIdahoNews.com visited the Safari Park Wednesday, and confirmed there is a small green gate at the front of the park to allow cars in.
However, past that area is the beginning of the game ranch where there is a separate, 8-foot double-walled fence, with over-hangs at the top, surrounding the area where the animals are kept.
EastIdahoNews.com observed there are also top-of-ground and in-ground fencing in certain enclosures to ensure the safety of animals and neighbors.
Sommer indicated to EastIdahoNews.com he went above and beyond the fencing requires of federal and state governing agencies.
“The opposers argue that the county has misinterpreted county code on zoning allowance of a game ranch like Yellowstone Safari Park,” says Sommer. “County personnel have repeatedly confirmed that Yellowstone Safari Park meets all county requirements as a legitimate game ranch and has full allowance to operate.”
Court proceedings for the lawsuit are scheduled to continue with a motion hearing at the Madison County Courthouse on Dec. 4 at 3 p.m.