19Public Comment
From: Kn: Farley <
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2021 2:29 PM
To: Public Comment
Subject: Veteran's Cemetery Fire Hazard Concerns
Hello Anaheim City Council,
I'm hearing talk of a Veteran's Cemetery at Gypsum Canyon/Santa Ana Canyon. Please do not support this
location for any kind of development/building beyond the gate (except for firefighter access).
Fires in this area are exactly why us locals have had to evacuate twice in the last ten years. Look at where
the local fires start and move through, where all the fuel is, and acknowledge that building a remote road next to
a busy freeway, likely without adequate alternative evacuation routes, and surrounded by fuel is a horrible idea
for those of us that live here.
Keep this area gated off and firebugs well away from it! I know it's an "easy win" to support veterans' affairs
but I'm afraid you're condemning your living residents to more frequent and worse fire events in an area that is
already a problem.
Who is going to guarantee the safety of the area? Have you ever been to Gypsum/Santa Ana Canyon in rush
hour when the cars back up to the apartment buildings west along Santa Ana Canyon and north down Gypsum,
wrapping all the way west down La Palma beyond Via Lomas De Yorba East? The volume of cars that travel
through this area daily, nonetheless when an accident diverts nearby traffic even more heavily to the 91, has
already caused brush fires from drivers flicking their cigarettes out their windows and accidents. It will be an
absolute temptation to bad actors and you would be serving it to them on a silver platter.
How do you intend to protect your residents? Will the power lines to the cemetery be underground, unlike the
ones that line Santa Ana Canyon Road? Will there be more fire monitoring stations put in place to offset the
repercussions of what you propose? What is the environmental and monetary cost of providing enough water to
this drought -stricken place to feed what is sure to be a massive lawn? Will the land around it be regularly
cleared of brush to provide a firebreak to the community, and would the funding to upkeep it be guaranteed in
perpetuity?
I sent a similar letter to the OC BOS but I have less hope that I will be heard by them, who are already feeling
the pressure from losing the Irvine location. They need to score political points; I'm hoping you all are more
able to prioritize keeping the community as safe as possible.
Please take the fires in the hills between OC and Riverside as seriously as those of us who have lived through
evacuating by driving down a shutdown 91 surrounded by flames. I hope you think this through and present
concrete plans to protect your residents and support the firefighters who protect us should you move forward.
Kimberly
A Nearby Yorba Linda Resident Who Drives This Section of Road Nearly Every Day