198os. But as they and their neighbors aged, the couple started buying up <br />undeveloped land - spending about $1.4 million to buy about 11 acres <br />between 2003 and 2013, Lane County property records show, in addition to <br />several acres they already owned there. <br />The land is zoned low-density residential, and in theory the Dreyers could put <br />in 14 housing units per acre, although terrain and other factors would reduce <br />that. <br />"At first our thought was to keep it from being developed, but eventually we <br />said it was time to do something to bring back the neighborhood," Dreyer <br />said. "It's better if we develop it. We live here." <br />In 2014, the Dreyers submitted a tentative planned unit development <br />application to the city of Eugene, with plans to build 28 "McMansion"-style <br />houses on their property. <br />That plan, Dryer said, met opposition from residents in two neighborhood <br />associations who complained the large houses would be out of character with <br />the rest of the area: Fairmount Neighbors, which includes Capital Drive <br />residents; and Laurel Hill Valley Citizens, with a boundary bordering <br />Hendricks Park to the east. <br />"There was a lot of pushback," Dreyer said. "We could do almost two times <br />the number of houses and maximize our returns. But politically that's not a <br />good idea. We have to live here with the neighbors." <br />So earlier this month, Dreyer filed plans for what he calls a compromise with <br />neighbors: a planned unit development application that would split the land <br />into 35 lots with slightly smaller houses, improve Capital Drive with new <br />asphalt and sidewalks and build a new street looping east of Capital Drive. <br />The easternmost lots, those closest to Hendricks Park, would be smaller to <br />preserve the Ribbon Trail that winds nearby. <br />