Winter 2026 Newsletter — No. 3 Park West Association

Annual meeting announcement

The annual meeting of the No. 3 Park West Association will be held on Saturday, January 24, 2026 at 11:00 AM in the back yard of Cheryl Tanno's house at 3040 West San Juan Drive. All homeowners and residents of No. 3 Park West Association (southwest of Starr Pass Blvd and Shannon Rd) are welcome to attend the meeting.

We are hoping the weather will cooperate and allow us to have this meeting outside. Please arrive by 10:45 AM. Also please bring a chair and enter the back yard by the gate on the left (west) side of the house. There will be no access to the inside of Cheryl's home.

If the day is too cold or rainy (or snowy!) for us to meet outside, the meeting will be held by Zoom. For this reason, we need everyone who wants to attend to send their name, street address, mailing address if it is different from your street address, and email address to donna@tpw3.org no later than January 21. If necessary, we will notify meeting participants of the switch to a Zoom meeting by 8:00 AM January 24. The meeting will be conducted by Zoom only if we cannot hold it outside in Cheryl's back yard.

No. 3 Park West Association homeowners and residents are encouraged to attend the annual meeting, as well as the other three board meetings held in April, July and October. Check tpw3.org for the location, or request a Zoom link for future meetings and learn about current HOA projects.

Name that wash!

A wash by any other name could be a water course or gully, a ravine, wadi or an arroyo. We have two named water courses on our HOA, and several that are unnamed. Many people know that the large waterway crossing our HOA to Starr Pass Boulevard is the Silvercroft Wash. Fewer know that the wash just south of San Juan Drive and under Shannon Road is the Cholla Wash. And almost no one knows that the San Juan Wash is further south, not even on our common area at all. Both the San Juan Wash and the Cholla Wash dump into the Santa Cruz River just south of the jail.

The Silvercroft Wash's headwaters and tributaries cross the southern end of the golf course, run between Desert Crest Drive and Lavonne Way, go under Lavonne Drive, and dump into the bigger, unnamed stream bed in our common area along the south side of Starr Pass Boulevard, eventually joining the Santa Cruz River near Miracle Mile at I-10.

The wide, dry, unnamed stream bed along the south side of Starr Pass Boulevard starts in the hills near The Club at Starr Pass Resort (formerly Catalina BBQ Company) on the golf course, and is joined by tributaries from the north side of Starr Pass Boulevard.

Of similar interest is the arroyo dumping onto and crossing Shannon between Saint Tropaz Avenue and San Juan Terrace on the common area where a park might be built (see the pocket park article below). That little arroyo really rips when we get a gully washer. There have been times your HOA Common Area Chairman has shoveled rocks and sand off the road before the street sweepers arrive.

Would you like to give one of those washes a name of your choosing? Get creative and think of names for the two washes described above:

That wide, dry stream bed along the south side of Starr Pass Boulevard, and
That arroyo between Saint Tropaz Avenue and San Juan Terrace at Shannon Road.

Please email your suggestions to Juan Barba at juan@tpw3.org before January 22. The proposed wash names will be announced at the HOA Annual Meeting on January 24.

Submittals will be put up for a popular vote: suggested wash names will be sent to all homeowners we can contact by email. The board will ratify the two majority vote-getters at the April HOA meeting. We will submit those two names to the Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names, the official body for naming washes. About six months later, the names we selected will be ratified by the Governor, and we all win!

The return of the roll-offs

Neighborhood associations can have roll-off dumpsters provided by the City of Tucson free of cost so residents can discard large items without waiting for the semi-annual curbside bulky pickup. Our roll-offs will arrive Friday, January 23 and will be on the west side of Desert Crest Drive just north of Saint Tropaz Avenue until Monday, January 26, 2026.

Please follow a few simple rules as a courtesy to your neighbors and to ensure that we continue to qualify for free roll-offs.

What is allowed

Furniture, appliances that don't contain freon, yard trimmings, your Christmas tree, and non-hazardous junk.

Please deposit your items in the roll-offs during daylight hours, and try to keep the noise down. Walk into the roll-off and place your items as far as possible from the door so other people can use it after you do. Please close the door after you leave your items.

What is not allowed

Absolutely no hazardous materials. No paint, chemicals, batteries, fuel tanks, tires, refrigerators, freezers, or air conditioning units.
No construction materials, dirt, or rocks.
Don't leave anything outside the roll-off.
Items cannot be piled above the top of the roll-off or hanging off the sides.

If the roll-off contains prohibited materials, or if we don't follow these rules, we probably won't be able to take advantage of this free program again, so we truly appreciate your cooperation. If you have any questions, please call the City of Tucson Environmental Services at 520-791-3171.

Collection of delinquent assessments

Our annual assessments are only $51.50 per year. This covers our website, newsletters, printing and postage, Zoom subscription, income tax preparation, legal fees, post office box rental, Arizona Corporation Commission reporting, and the maintenance, property tax and liability insurance on our 65 acres of common area. The annual assessment was $24 per year in 1978. With 397% inflation in the past 47 years, the assessment should be $119 per year now. This would still be a bargain, with most HOAs charging over $100 per month. Few HOAs enjoy access to a common area as beautiful as ours.

We have been able to keep the annual assessment this low because the duties of our HOA are done by volunteers. The most onerous of these duties is keeping track of late fees and interest on delinquent assessments, and billing the homeowners who mistakenly believe that paying the assessments and interest is optional.

This is from our Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions:

Article IV. Covenant for Maintenance Assessments. Section 1. Creation of the Lien and Personal Obligation of Assessments. The Declarant (Trustee for the original developer of our HOA), for each Lot owned with the properties, hereby covenants, and each Owner of any Lot by acceptance of a deed therefor, whether or not it shall be so expressed in such deed, is deemed to covenant and agree to pay to the Association: (1) annual assessments or charges, and (2) special assessments for capital improvements, such assessments to be established and collected as hereinafter provided. The annual and special assessments, together with interest costs, and reasonable attorney's fees, shall be a charge on the land and shall be a continuing lien upon the property against which such assessment is made. Each assessment, together with interest, costs and reasonable attorney's fees, shall also be the personal obligation of the person who was the owner of such property at the time when the assessment fell due.

We currently charge a $15 late fee when the annual assessment is not paid by the due date, and interest accrues at 6% per year.

Thirteen (13) homeowners are in arrears. They owe our HOA $4,023 in assessments, late fees and interest. They have all received repeated notifications of the amounts they owe our HOA.

Our board recently hired an HOA management company to collect these delinquent assessments. When the management company bills these delinquent homeowners, our HOA will initially be charged by the management company for the billing. After the management company has sent three letters to the homeowner (at a cost of over $100 to the HOA per delinquent homeowner), if no payment plan has been established and completed by the homeowner, the matter will be turned over to an attorney for collection.

When an attorney gets involved, the costs to the delinquent homeowner will increase by several hundred dollars, but this typically persuades the homeowner to bring the account up to date. The property management and attorney costs will be added to the delinquent homeowner's account. It is much more cost-effective for the homeowner to simply pay the amount they owe without any follow-up.

If you would like to bring your account up to date before property management and attorney fees are added, please contact treasurer@tpw3.org to find out how much you owe. Your cooperation is appreciated.

A brighter, safer entrance to our neighborhood

The No. 3 Park West Association board is excited to announce the installation and activation of the new monument sign lighting at the community entrance! This lighting is more than just an aesthetic upgrade; it's an investment in the safety and security of our entire neighborhood.

We have had four previous attempts at improving the lighting of the monument. The previous attempts have experienced vandalism and/or theft. The initial attempts consisted of placing solar lights on the ground in front of the monument; these disappeared within a few weeks. The latest attempts have included placement of a mounting arm above the monument intended to help protect our investment and dissuade would-be vandals.

Prior to the installation of the most recent solar light, there was a serious accident at this intersection involving an automobile and a pedestrian. Most of us have experienced a similar situation in which we are surprised by pedestrians, children, animals, or cyclists.

Why improved lighting matters

Enhanced safety. Proper, well-lit spaces make it easier for residents, pedestrians, and vehicles to navigate the entrance area at night, reducing the risk of accidents.
Deterrence. Adequate lighting has been shown to be an effective deterrent to potential criminal activity by eliminating dark, concealed areas.
A welcoming atmosphere. The updated lighting makes our entrance more visually appealing, fostering a greater sense of community pride and a welcoming environment for residents and guests.

Interest in a pocket park in our community

Our homeowner association community has 65 acres of desert common area. Many homeowners here find value in the wide-open vistas and next-to-nature feel of that undeveloped property. The common area has been minimally maintained for decades, the object being to preserve it as close to natural as possible.

A resident proposed that a small park might be a benefit we all could be proud of and use as needed. A site has been selected which realizes several goals:

It is close to homes, so vandals would be reluctant to destroy or take our property positioned there.
It would be easily accessible to walking residents and just off the street for vehicle visitors.
Clearing the area involves shrubs and cacti only; no trees removed.
A decorative rock layer would be installed, and a couple of picnic tables.
Land preparation, materials purchased and installed, are estimated to be $4,000.
It could be used for association purposes such as fair-weather meetings or neighbors gathering, as well as by any interested homeowner for personal use.

The suggested site is off Shannon Road, south of Saint Tropaz Avenue, between 1610 and 1620 South Shannon Road in the common area by the little unnamed wash. The closest neighbors have been contacted. Your board would like to have more comments by all stakeholders. Please email juan@tpw3.org to register your comments and your opinion, for or against this plan. Thank you.

Helpful phone numbers and websites

Sometimes when a resident of our neighborhood sees an unsightly car or yard, their first instinct is to report the issue to a board member. A better and more effective approach is to report the problem directly to the City of Tucson department that has enforcement power and paid staff to deal with the matter. The full, current list is on our City Services page; the highlights from this newsletter:

Code enforcement (falling fences, junk, weeds, vegetation blocking sidewalks, unpermitted additions, peeling paint, vacant properties with broken doors or windows): 520-791-5843, or submit a report online at the City's Code Enforcement Violation Report.
Vehicles with expired plates parked on the street: Parkwise at 520-791-5071 or parktucson@tucsonaz.gov.
Inoperable vehicles on private property: tucsonaz.gov junk-vehicle reporting.
Graffiti: if you see someone in the act of tagging, call 911. If the graffiti is already in place, call 520-792-CITY (2489). Graffiti left in place tends to attract more; if it's on your property, the City will eventually require you to remove it.
New walls, fences, ramadas, carports, porches, sheds, garages, room additions, and trim-color changes: first Building Code Plan Review at 520-791-5550, then our Architectural Committee via the Home Improvement Review Form. For trim colors you'll be asked for a paint chip; earth tones are recommended.
Potholes, missing street signs, street lights, limbs over the sidewalk: the Tucson Department of Transportation's street maintenance request.

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