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Volume 1
Issue 1
January 2000
A DRAMA IN FIVE ACTS
Act I
The curtain opens to reveal our beginnings... endless mountains with no trails, thriving dairy farms, barren desert with an occasional Indian hogan, a remote and struggling establishment known as Rustler's Rooste, peaceful and undisturbed families of scorpions, snakes and white tailed rabbits, partially occupied and neglected industrial structures and trailers, and, finally, 7,000 acres owned by International Harvester. These were the serene and untroubled beginnings of what would become, approximately 20 years later, Mountain Park Ranch, the Foothills, Ahwatukee and Pointe South Mountain.
No one, not even the City of Phoenix leaders nor Gosnell Builders could foresee the unrestrained and arrant growth about to take place. In the 1970's, International Harvester used the lush South Mountain preserve slopes to test new machinery and technology, particularly for "dirt scooping and moving" effectiveness. It was during this same period that International Harvester was developing a "tunnel driller." Company executives approached the City of Phoenix with a well-conceived proposal to test drill a passage through South Mountain at no expense to the City, provided the City of Phoenix would agree to absorb the cost of road preparation, paving, and maintenance. The proposal was met with skepticism and chuckled responses... why bear the needless expense of paving roads that lead to barren desert, vast wilderness, Indian hogans and dairy farms? In the words of one City leader, "Roads to where?"
Approximately five years later, enter stage right: Gosnell Builders, headed up by Bob Gosnell. Gosnell had just developed the award-winning Pointe at Squaw Peak and would now propose his ultimate multi-use masterpiece to the City of Phoenix... the development of a combined residential/commercial mountain mecca, complete with a hotel complex, restaurants, swimming pools, 18 hole golf course, tennis courts, stables, corporate offices and residential community, said development to be known as Pointe South Mountain.
During the negotiation process between Gosnell and the City of Phoenix, the City Traffic Engineering Department specified that as part of this development, the builder was to construct an 80 foot major public roadway (48th Street) between Baseline and Guadalupe, and, in addition, all other public roadways within the community, which would eventually accommodate projected traffic flow, were to be built to City standards. Gosnell countered with a proposal to build 48th Street as a 40 foot service roadway and all other roadways within the Pointe community to be below City standards and projected capacities. Further, Gosnell argued that a separate parkway through the resort as well as the adjacent I-10 freeway could easily handle non-resident traffic. The position of the City was that a 40 foot roadway would result in traffic congestion and increased accident rates. From the City's position, a four lane roadway was essential as there would be significant traffic as a result of 25 square miles of proposed development about to take place to the south.
In response to the City's concerns, Gosnell would now consider offering his proposed masterpiece to another municipality. The City leaders, visualizing a potential million dollars in tax revenue slowly fading on the horizon, set aside the requirements for major public roadways and approved the proposed deficient and substandard roads. During this approval process, the City Council attached the condition that 48th Street be built as a private road, with a grant of public right of way easement. And, due to the fact that the roadway (48th Street) was, and is to this day, substandard and insufficient, the City would not accept the expense and liability, leaving the burden of that section of the roadway to the builder/developer.
The Pointe South Mountain community was a protected entity, due to the fact that 48th Street was originally a dead end roadway. However, residents were startled when work commenced to join 48th Street with Guadalupe/Pointe Parkway East. In October, 1992, a Quit Claim Deed from Gosnell to the Homeowners Association was quietly recorded, a fact discovered by Board members several months later. This deed transferred not only 48th Street and the burgeoning traffic but all other residential streets and designated common area land tracts as well.
1992 produced a flurry of activity for the Association. Gosnell Builders handed the management scepter to Eagle Western, who in turn, handed it to CCMC in November, 1992. Enter stage left: Blandford Homes, who officially joined the Association effective October 1, 1992. At about the same time, the CC&Rs were revised and consolidated to reflect elimination of developer control over the Association, making them totally compliant with FHA/VA regulations and eligible for FHA/VA financing, which heretofore had not been possible. Pointe South Mountain Residential Association, led by the Board of Directors staffed fully by homeowners, now had complete control over its own destiny.
All of the above events have collectively brought to this once isolated community the issues it faces today. Enter stage right: legal counsel, brought on board by the Board of Directors in 1992. The Association is presently involved in litigation with regard to the public easement issue of 48th Street, land dispute of designated common areas, and land tracts transferred by Gosnell to the Association which include parts of the golf course.
Enter from stage left, stage right and stage rear: Pointe homeowners, many of whom have never been known for sitting back and waiting for outcomes. In 1995, the 48th Street issue was addressed with proactive measures. A dangerous non-resident traffic situation on the small side streets produced a group of concerned homeowners who worked with the Board of Directors and the management company to install the Valley View pipegate and more recently, the Euclid pipegate. In addition, stop signs were placed at Hazel and 48th Street to allow residents safe access to the main roadway. Lastly, speed bumps and posts were installed to deter speeding.
Water usage and related costs continue to be a challenge. The Water Committee is presently evaluating alternatives, including re-metering, in order to develop a plan to give more control over water consumption, promote conservation and reduce escalating costs. In the courthome area, common area meters have been segregated from the residential meters as a cost-saving measure. Dedicated residents have become involved in landscape design of common areas and environmentally concerned residents brought a private recycling service to the community in 1992.
Residents are becoming more aware of their immediate areas as well as those of their neighbors and, as a result, there has been greater communication with the management company and security patrols regarding security issues, water waste, violations and other day-to-day issues of concern.
The newly formed Hospitality Committee has been active in welcoming new homeowners as well as promoting and planning on-site community gatherings.
Lastly, in an effort to keep residents fully informed and knowledgeable, The Residential Review, a publication resulting from the collaboration by as many as ten or more homeowners, is published bi-monthly. In the very near future, the newsletter, as well as Board meeting minutes and other valuable community information, will be posted on the PSMRA community web site.
Pointe South Mountain Residential Association, once envisioned by Bob Gosnell as a magnificent mountain mecca, has at its very doorstep a most rare and precious gift... the largest city park and mountain preserve in the United States. The park offers hiking/biking/horse trails, petroglyphs, white tailed rabbits, javelina, coyotes, mountain top panoramic vistas, a golf course that makes its way through endless mountains, and all the amenities of an award-winning resort. Pointe South Mountain Residential Association has become a stand-alone example for lush and flowering Mediterranean xeriscape, mountain backdrops, clean architectural design and secure family lifestyles. Many feel that the privilege of living and working here is worth whatever sacrifices, whatever efforts, whatever challenges must be met along the way in order to protect and preserve this most unique little community as envisioned some fifteen years ago as well as for many years to come.
B. Hanser
Updated 5/99
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