31 (358)
Susana Barrios
From:Nicole Jelinek <nikkijelinek@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, October
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] Deer Canyon Apartments
Attachments:20240621_150031.jpg; 20240409_164727.jpg
You don't often get email from Learn why this is important
Warning: This email originated from outside the City of Anaheim. Do not click links or open
attachments unless you recognize the sender and are expecting the message.
Hello,
I am a lifelong resident of Anaheim Hills, I live in the neighborhoods surrounding Running Springs
Elementary off Weir Canyon. I'm writing this to voice my disapproval for the nearly 500 unit apartment
complex that is attempting to be built in Deer Canyon.
I've live in Anaheim Hills my whole life, attending Running Springs elementary myself as a child, going
onto both El Rancho and Canyon High School as well, I am very aware of the culture surrounding this
area and how these apartments will impact our community for the worse.
I've also worked as a substitute teacher throughout OUSD, I've seen how crowded the classrooms are
are at my old schools, as well as others in the surrounding area. No solution has been provided to
address the concerns of over impacted classrooms.
On top of that, the consistent traffic that has already expanded through my neighborhoods has already
affected my life negatively. Quick errands to Savi Ranch where my doctors office is located now turn into
a long, overbearing experience as I fight against the traffic created by everyone using Serrano and Weir as
freeway bypass. A close friend who lives off Larkwood, a residental street parallel to Weir that is often
crowded with traffic is unable to leave her home due to cars blocking the street all in an attempt to get
back onto the 91.
The traffic never leaves, a simple fender bender on the freeway can cause traffic up Weir and Serrano, as
well as Santa Ana Canyon, even during non-peak traffic times. The 91 bottleneck is horrible and as
someone who lives in this zone, these apartments will only add to this problem and do nothing to
address the larger issues that affect our community.
Fire concerns are obviously an issue as my neighborhood has 3 exits to leave this area incase of a fire.
Serrano, Santa Ana Canyon, and Weir Canyon. All 3 of these roads are so heavily affected by traffic, the
fears of a fire preventing us from leaving are a very possible reality. My neighborhood still has the scars of
the burnt down houses from the 2017 fires. Even all this time later our neighborhood has yet to fully
recover.
1
Ive attached two photos of traffic that I've experienced dealing with. The first taken April 9th at 4:47 pm as
I was coming back from my doctors office. That traffic caused my usual 20 minute errand to turn into 40
minutes, if not more. The second is from June 21st, at 3pm, showing the same traffic down Weir that
prevents people in my neighborhood from going out, all so they can save a few minutes of traffic off the
freeway. You can see the comparison of normal traffic on the opposite side of these roads in comparison
to the backup
Keep in mind these pictures are representative of a common occurrence, while I might only have
provided two, this is something I deal with daily.
I am a young voter, my peers my age and I are all watching this issue to see if our city council will defend
us and hear our concerns or try to 'stick it to the hills' as the planning commission did. Please listen to
the residents, the fire cheif, and the police who all voiced their concerns against these apartments.
2