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Susana Barrios
From:Kristen Karpow <kristen.karpow@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, October
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] Please OPPOSE the Hills Preserve
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Hello,
I am writing, as a resident of Anaheim Hills, to urge you to OPPOSE the proposal to approve the Hills
Preserve Project. I am raising my family here in Anaheim Hills, and I serve this very community as a
County of Orange employee. As a Chief for the Orange County Health Care Agency - Emergency Medical
Services Department, with experience working as an ER/Trauma Registered Nurse in a densely populated
OC area for 10+ years, I know first hand the risks and dangers of increasing human population in an area
that does not have the infrastructure to support this.
My reasons for urging you to oppose this proposal are as follows:
1. Unsafe traffic delays in the event of a mandatory fire evacuation
The Anaheim Hills community is just that. A community of neighborhoods built among small hills
with a single road to access/exit those neighborhood hills. My family has lived here for 40+ years,
and has been through several mandatory fire evacuations. The most recent evacuation saw
vehicles, and the families inside them, stuck on these single roads for HOURS while fires raged in
the surrounding canyons, hills, and green belts - getting closer and closer. The Hills Preserve, with
its nearly 500 dwelling units, will add hundreds if not over 1000 new vehicles to the area. This
would cause a dramatically increased delay in evacuation times, putting existing Anaheim Hills
residents’ and families‘ lives at risk.
On the Hills Preserve’s website FAQ, their response to the concern of gridlock was, “our
development heavily promotes a sustainable working environment that reduces the need for
commuting altogether.” First of all, there is no way they can guarantee that the majority of their
renters will work from home. Second of all, this answer does NOT at all address the concern I
mentioned above in the event of a fire evacuation, with the Hills Preserve potentially adding
hundreds of cars to a small community with single roads that already take HOURS for fire
evacuation the residents we already have.
2. Overcrowding of local schools
Anaheim Hills only has ONE public High School and ONE public middle school for all of its
residents. The public elementary schools that serve Anaheim Hills are already overcrowded as
well. My husband has been a school teacher with Orange Unified School District (including
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Anaheim Hills public schools), and will be the first to say that our classrooms are overcrowded.
My daughter’s Kindergarten class in our local Anaheim Hills elementary school last school year
had 30 children in it, which her teacher had to manage without an aide. I volunteered regularly in
the classroom, and witnessed how difficult it was for one teacher to maintain classroom
management and provide adequate attention to each student. The Hills Preserve, with its nearly
500 units, has the potential to add hundreds more children to our already crowded school
system.
The Hills Preserve’s website FAQ states, in response to concerns on school overcrowding, that
“this project will have very few school-aged children. Our target demographic is young, working
professionals without children.” This statement is an insult to our community’s intelligence, and
purposely does not address the true concern. According to California State fair housing laws,
housing providers CANNOT discriminate against families with children. As such, there is no
realistic way that The Hills Preserve can guarantee they won’t overburden our already crowded
public school system in Anaheim Hills.
3. Disruption of community environment
My husband’s family chose to raise him in the suburbs of Anaheim Hills for a reason. My own
family chose to raise me in the suburbs of neighboring Orange Heights for the same reason. My
husband and I chose to return to Anaheim Hills (from a more densely populated area) back in
2018 to start a family, also for the same reason. The reason? A quiet, peaceful, safe, and family-
oriented community environment.
The Hills Preserve, with its 7 STORY building, will disrupt this environment by introducing noise
and light pollution from a rooftop bar, bowling alley, and other such on-site amenities. The Hills
Preserve claims that their “target demographic” is young working professionals without children.
Established families with children are what enrich this community. If we wanted to live near a
rooftop bar, we would have chosen to live elsewhere. The families of Anaheim Hills who
CURRENTLY reside, and have resided in this community for years, do not want rooftop bars or any
type of urban development near where we are raising our children.
In summary, my family and I are long-term residents of Anaheim Hills and beg YOU, our representatives,
to hear our voices. The Hills Preserve is UNSAFE, will cause OVERCROWDING of both roads and
schools, and will DESTROY our small community environment. Please support the current residents of
Anaheim Hills, and OPPOSE the development of The Hills Preserve.
Kind regards,
Kristen
Kristen N. Karpow, BSN, RN, MICN, CEN
Systems and Standards Chief
Orange County Emergency Medical Services
Personal:
Work: kkarpow@ochca.com
Office: (
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