DEERHORN — For 50 years, the McKenzie River Golf Course has drawn golfers seeking an affordable and scenic game, as well as homeowners in the adjacent neighborhood looking for peace and quiet.

Neither of them are happy with word that the final round of the nine-hole regulation course may be approaching.

Owner Rod Omlid is seeking Lane County approval to redevelop the riverside course, built by his father and two uncles, into a 27-lot subdivision. The application is under review with a decision due in May.

Ryan Omlid, Rod Omlid’s son who manages the course, said his father submitted the subdivision proposal to find out what the nearly 59-acre property might be worth.

“It’s a lot tastier to a buyer if it (the valuation) is already done,” said Ryan Omlid, adding that the family is not seeking out buyers. “We’re not going anywhere. We have no plans for it.”

He said the family would sell the course if offered a good price, but that hasn’t happened.

Ryan Omlid said he’s given the same explanation to neighbors who have contacted him with questions.

Twenty-four neighbors and the Eugene Water & Electric Board submitted written comments to Lane County raising concerns about the subdivision proposal.

They worry the septic systems of the proposed new homes could pollute the McKenzie River if they fail or are flooded. EWEB noted that it draws water from the river for its nearly 200,000 customers.

Neighbors also are concerned the new homes’ individual wells could drain their own water supply. They worry about falling property values and more traffic.

Mainly, however, they are concerned about the loss of the tranquil surroundings they’ve grown used to.

“I tell everyone that is our big backyard we don’t have to mow,” said Joyce Denton, who has lived next to the golf course with her husband, Dave, for nearly 12 years. “I love it. It’s just so peaceful.”

Golfers are just as disheartened. The course is not only inexpensive, but its terrain drains so well that golfers can play in the rain.

The Dentons say only snow and ice stop golfers from playing the course. Joyce Denton said she’s seen many golfers play with a umbrella perched on their golf bags.

“They’re soaking wet, but their clubs are dry,” she said.

“The drainage is probably the best in the whole area, except perhaps for the country club,” agreed Eugene resident Carol Glines, who has played the course twice a week for the last three years. She was loading up after playing a round Wednesday.

Eugene resident Pat Maxwell said the course enjoys better weather as its often free of the fog that settles over other Eugene-Springfield courses.

“I’d be disappointed for sure if it closed,” said Maxwell, who plays the course a dozen times a year. “I think a lot of people would be.”

But in its application to the county, the Omlid family notes that the course is designated for rural residential development in 2-acre lots in the Lane County Rural Comprehensive Plan, the official land-use blueprint for rural areas of the county.

To win approval, the Omlids need to present a detailed plan to the county, and that’s where the concerns crop up, especially when it comes to the number and water-production volume of the wells the new subdivision would need.

The Omlids’ application for the subdivision proposal also notes that fewer golfers are playing the courses in the Eugene-Springfield area.

“The number of new beginner golfers as a percentage of the population has declined and is continuing to decline,” the application said. “The pool of existing golfers is growing smaller because of deaths, aging and physical limitations of older players.”

Rod’s father, Lloyd Omlid, and his two uncles, Earl and Kenneth, built the course in 1961. Rod Omlid and his two siblings purchased the course from their father in 1977 before he took over sole ownership 18 years ago.

There are about 30 homes along the southern border of the golf course that were built between 1961 and 1965. Haagen Creek separates the homes from most of the golf course.

In December, Omlid applied to divide the nearly 59-acre golf course into 27 two-acre lots each with its own well, septic system and drainfield.

Lane County Planner Jerry Kendall said his review is on hold while Omlid’s land-use planner, Larry Reed, works to respond to EWEB’s and residents’ comments.

If Lane County signs off on the subdivision proposal, land-use conditions must be met before the proposal can receive final plat approval. With final approval, building permits can be sought to construct the new homes.

Opponents could appeal a favorable decision to a hearings examiner and, if the decision is upheld, to county commissioners.

The subdivision proposal has drawn the interest of two local utilities for different reasons.

The Deerhorn Community Water Association owns two wells that pump water to 120 homes near the golf course. President Don Henry said there’s concern about the proposed new wells drawing down the aquifer serving his customers.

Henry said the golf course is outside his utility’s service area and that it doesn’t have enough capacity to serve 27 new homes.

Henry was open to expanding the service area and connecting the new homes to the utility if a future developer paid those costs. No one has approached him so far, he said.

Kendall said the county might condition approval on hydrological testing, and he hoped the Omlids’ planner was looking into hooking up the proposed new homes to the local water utility.

EWEB wrote in its comments that building homes and septic systems on riverside property that floods would increase the risk of contamination of the waterway with sewage and pesticides.

The new homes would need to be raised above expected flood levels because the land sits in the 100-year floodplain. But Karl Morgenstern, EWEB’s environmental management supervisor, said that’s no guarantee that homes and septic systems wouldn’t be flooded.

“Ideally, we’d like to see it remain in a state that doesn’t include 27 homes,” Morgenstern said.

He said EWEB has discussed with the Omlids the conservation of the property. Their response, Morgenstern said, was “nothing is going to happen quickly so there’s time to talk.”

The Omlid family have discussed selling the property to the nonprofit preservation group McKenzie River Trust, but Ryan Omlid said the organization’s offer was too low. The Lane County assessor’s office pegs the course’s market value at $2.3 million.

There also have been talks with the Willamalane Park and Recreation District about acquiring the land, he said.

“They continue to be very open to alternatives,” said Joe Moll, the trust’s executive director. “We’re hopeful that what they arrive on is good for them and good for the community, because the McKenzie River is such an important resource for all of us.”

Neighbors are waiting to see how it all plays out.

The backyard of Mike Kerrick, a retired forest supervisor for the Willamette National Forest, overlooks the fairway for the course’s fifth hole. Kerrick said he’s played the course dozens of times, even acing the second hole twice, eight months apart.

He enjoys watching his grandchildren hunt for wayward golf balls during their visits.

“It’s kind of a selfish thing,” he said. “I’d hate to see this change.”

Said another neighbor, Annell Bacon: “We’re not trying to make their (the Omlids) lives difficult. We just don’t want our lives to have some really drastic problems created.”

Follow Christian on Twitter @RGchill. Email christian.hill@registerguard.com.