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Shadow Park consists of 394 homes built by two builders: Ponderosa and Warmington. The eastern portion of Shadow Park is predominantly Warmington while the western portion was built by Ponderosa. Both builders paid for our entire park including the clubhouse, pool, tennis, basketball and volleyball courts, and the sand play area during the time of housing construction. There are five models of Ponderosa homes, with variations of each model. Two models are one story and three are two story. They ranged in size from approximately 1,750 to 2,570 square feet and cost from $90,000 to $145,000, depending on the model and during what phase it was built. Warmington built five models ranging in size from approximately 2,000 to 3,000 square feet. Their prices were slightly higher than the Ponderosa homes.
Original homeowners moved in from the late fall of 1977 through the summer of 1979. Each of the builders constructed their homes in a number of phases, with some homes from each builder completed at the same time. Generally speaking, residents first moved into homes in the southeast portion of Shadow Park. New owners moved into homes in the southwest area in the spring and summer of 1978. The northwest quarter of Shadow Park was occupied in the fall of 1978 and winter of 1978-79. The final original residents moved into the homes in northeast part of Shadow Park in the spring and summer of 1979.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: The Board was initially comprised of both homeowners and representatives of the two builders, as provided for in the CC&Rs. The first Board of Directors made up entirely of homeowners was elected at the annual meeting in October, 1979. The officers and members were: President - Dennis Sellars, Vice President - Vince Ammirato, Secretary - Celia Spitzer, Treasurer - John Crawley, and Directors at Large - Mike Cabral, Lee Neal, and Janice Wineke.
For many years, Board meetings were on the third Wednesday evening of the month. In February 1989, the meeting was moved to the second Thursday, the current day.
ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: Shadow Park was initially managed by Alta Property Management. In April, 1980, after thoroughly researching a number of management companies, Shadow Park contracted with TransAmerican Real Estate to manage our association. Its president, Bill Sasser, Sr., personally managed our account for a number of years. After his death in 1990, his son became president of the company. The name of the company was changed in the 1980's to Transpacific Property Management.
PROJECTS: Shadow Park originally was planned to have open pedestrian access along 195th Street. Vehicle access at the three entrances was to be controlled only by wooden swing arm gates. The first big project done by the Shadow Park Homeowners Association was the construction of the wrought iron fence along Moorshire Drive/195th Street and the vehicular and pedestrian entry gates at Bracknell/Shoemaker, Derbyshire/195th Street, and the main entry at South Street. There was a special Association member meeting in February, 1979 to discuss this project and approve a special assessment for all homeowners. A special committee worked very hard to see this project to completion. What you see today, minus the current guard shack, is what was built. The grand opening celebration for our new gates and perimeter fencing was held on April 26, 1980.
Another project that grew out of concern for the safety of our residents, particularly our children, was the installation of the speed bumps on the streets immediately surrounding the clubhouse. They were in installed in mid-1979 and received an overwhelming voice of approval at the annual meeting that year.
The first guard shack was much smaller than our current one and was completed in early 1981. The current building was built in late1991 and completely replaced the first one.
The traffic signal at the South Street entrance was installed by the City of Cerritos in 1987. Shadow Park had been trying to get a signal at that location since 1981.
Cable TV became available to Shadow Park residents in the fall of 1989.
The original green street signs were replaced with the current brown ones in 1991.
In order to save money on water for landscaping (and also to benefit the ecology), Shadow Park began tying in to Cerritos' reclaimed water system in late 1991. Phase I included the perimeter landscaping along South Street from Alphington to Shoemaker and south on Shoemaker to Bracknell. Phase 2 covered the perimeter areas on Shoemaker from Bracknell to 195th, along 195th from Shoemaker to Bloomfield, and north on Bloomfield to the Shadow Park boundary. The medians on Bracknell and Derbyshire were also part of this phase, which was completed in March 1992. Phase 3 is planned to include the South Street perimeter area west of Alphington, the median on Alphington, the Shadow Park park, and, possibly, the Queensborough median. This has not been done because the City of Cerritos has not yet run the planned-for reclaimed water line along our section of South Street. That line is now estimated for a late 2001 completion.
The original wooden playground equipment was replaced in May 1994 with what is there today.
The original mail boxes and supporting posts were replaced completely in the fall of 1998.
In the spring of 1999, the patio covers and the supporting posts around the clubhouse and in the pool area were replaced.
The light posts in the park were changed from wood to slump stone in late 1999.
ASSOCIATION EVENTS: The Association sponsored a number of special events in its early years. There were December holiday bazaars at the clubhouse in 1980,1981 and 1982. Vegas nights were held in those same years, with the proceeds going towards clubhouse, pool and playground equipment. We also had fundraising newspaper recycling drives and 4th of July potlucks and fireworks displays at the park during those years.
SERVICE PROVIDERS: Over the years, Shadow Park has contracted with a number of service providers for landscaping, security services, clubhouse maintenance, and gate maintenance. We have used four landscapers and four or five security companies, plus directly employing our own guards for ten years.
When we first started having guards at the South Street gate in 1980, we had them for 16 hours per day. In 1983, we expanded to 24 hours. A roving guard was added in the summer of 1984. We had pool monitors for the summer months prior to having the roving guard. The directory board was at the main gate until 1991.
Security Companies |
Burns International Security Service: July 1980 - February 1984
Elite Security: March 1984 - November 1987
Southland Security: December 1987 - September 1988
In-house (hired our own guards): October 1988 - May 2000
Pinkerton: June 2000 -
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Landscapers |
Western Pacific: sometime in 1978 - April 1980
Huerta Landscaping: May 1980 - January 1983
Yamamoto: February 1983 - August 1984
Environmental Care: September 1994 - September 1995
J. Williams: October 1995 -
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MONTHLY ASSESSMENTS: The monthly assessment initially was set very low by the builders. In 1978, it was about $34, and was increased to $37.50 in late 1979. In order to provide the services expected by the Shadow Park homeowners, the assessment had to be increased significantly. Each of the next three annual increases was 20%, the maximum allowed without a special vote of the homeowners. Since then, the annual increase has ranged from a high of 11% to many years where no increase occurred. Since 1991, there has been a total increase of only 7%.
The following list shows the assessment for each year with the percent increase from the previous year. The amounts for 1978 and 1979 are approximate. Until 1984, increases went into effect in September. Beginning with 1984, increases went into effect as of January.
| Year | Fee | %increase |
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
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$32.50
$34.00
$37.50
$45.00
$54.00
$64.00
$72.00
$78.00
$83.00
$87.00
$90.00
$90.00
$90.00
$100.00
$100.00
$100.00
$100.00
$105.00
$105.00
$107.00
$107.00
$107.00
$107.00
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First Year
<10%
10%
20%
20%
20%
11%
8.3%
6.4%
4.8
3.4%
0%
0%
11%
0%
0%
0%
5%
0%
1.9%
0%
0%
0%
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