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Entrepreneur seeks to rent e-bikes from trailheads; zoning staff says home-occupation special-use likely required

5580759 · August 12, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

John Zimmer, founder of Trailblazers, told the trails committee he intends to rent and sell e-bikes from a mobile setup and an on-site barn; county zoning staff said operating from an unincorporated agricultural parcel with a residence would require a home-occupation special-use permit and offered to schedule a ZBA hearing.

An entrepreneur told county trail and zoning officials on Aug. 12 he plans to launch Trailblazers, a mobile e-bike rental and sales business that would operate from a barn and occasional trailhead popup sites. John Zimmer said he plans to run rentals from an SUV and a pop-up tent at trailheads on the Jane Addams and Pecatonica Prairie trails as well as sell e-bikes from a retail space in an antiques barn on his property. "What we're looking at doing is trying to do this in a…

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