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Photo by Jim Craven Members of a committee looking for resolution to a dispute over the partially built driving range at Ashland's Oak Knoll Golf Course look over the course before their meeting Thursday. Group votes not to alter golf range Ashlanders objected to poles By JOHN DARLING ASHLAND -- The two dozen 50-foot poles forming a new driving range at Oak Knoll Golf Course will mostly stay where they are. But from the perspective of residents of Cypress Point and Augusta streets, they're smack in the middle of their view of Grizzly Peak. A committee of residents, golfers and city parks and recreation staff and commissioners voted Thursday to kill a plan to move the driving range, a process that would have involved considerable earth moving. "The costs would be ruinous," said Oak Knoll golf pro Bob Haney. "We would have to shut down the golf course. It would destroy us." Instead, the group chose to leave the range where it is, but with the following modifications: remove the last four poles, top the poles on the far end to about 30 feet, use the sheerest, least visible netting available and plant a poplar tree to cover each pole. The plan would remove the view obstruction for some homes and reduce it for others, said JoAnne Eggers, chairwoman of the parks and recreation commission. Residents whose homes border the city-owned course at 3070 Highway 66 have protested that they bought property with the belief their view over the course could never be ruined, said neighbor Stan Fancher, "but this is an eyesore." Residents say they were given no notice of construction of the driving range, which began three or four months ago, but city parks and recreation Director Ken Mickelson said leaflets were delivered to homes. The ad hoc committee of the parks commission formed shortly after the poles went up to address nearby residents' concerns. "I believe the city notified neighbors," Eggers said, "I just don't think anyone understood the impact on their view until they saw them (poles) standing there." The group agreed to work together on the issues of adequate parking, view preservation, supervision of golfers, ease of maintenance and affordable costs. "I'm committed to a win-win situation," said neighbor Carl Rudey. Mickelson said he will research one remote option, to place the range beside Highway 66 at Crowson Road, a move that would require state permission to use a small segment of state land at the intersection and have significant costs. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA