Cathedral Canyon Country Club #1

 Quorum Article - February 2000

Cathedral Canyon Country Club #1 Association was the first of 17 homeowner associations incorporated to administer the greater Cathedral Canyon Country Club subdivision in Cathedral City.

The #1 Association comprises 62 units. They are mainly 2 bedroom, single story homes ranging in size from approximately 1000 square feet to almost 1600 square feet. There is also a sprinkling of single bedroom and 2 story units.  During the past year these homes have sold at prices ranging from $61,000 to $107,000.

Construction at the #1 Association began in 1975 and is on leased land, as is most of Cathedral Canyon Country Club. Ground rents range from approximately $700 to $1800 annually, depending roughly on the size of the unit. Association dues are $300 per month and have been maintained at this level for some years.

The #1 Association has a uniquely proactive Board of Directors that takes an avant garde approach in all areas of its maintenance and replacement program. For example, the Board has adopted a conscious policy to select replacement components with longevity and ease and economy of maintenance in mind. Thus mail box posts, directional signage and pool fences are all in fiberglass with steel inserts or armatures for strength. These items have a 20 year anticipated useful life with no anticipated maintenance even in a desert climate. Even the pools and spas are lined with fiberglass.

The Board is just as innovative in its approach to operating expenses. In an effort to curtail expenditure on gas heating, it has installed solar heating units combined with gas heaters on timers at each of the association’s five pools. This investment will be returned in less than 5 years from savings on natural gas. In addition, the Board is implementing low flow irrigation combined with desert landscaping. And the use of the latest techniques has reduced the lawn-scalping period by weeks.

The Board is very conscious of the need to keep association dues relatively low in order for the association to compete in the real estate marketplace. This is particularly so in light of the fact that the homeowner’s ground rent payment comes on top of the HOA dues. To this end the Board caused a change in the CC&Rs to make individual homeowners responsible for the maintenance and replacement of their roofs, except for annual roof inspections for which the association pays.

The #1 Association is managed by Preferred Resort Management, which has been owned and operated by Terry Scheurer CCAM since 1992. Terry is also a City Commissioner for the City of Palm Desert. He has served as served as committee chairman for Roads & Transportation, Schools & Education, Parks & Recreation and Arts & Culture. Terry has been an association board president and also lives in an association.

Says Terry of Cathedral Canyon Country Club No. 1 Association, “It is most unusual to see such a small homeowner association exhibit such leadership and forward thinking.”