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Date:2/2/2026 5:50:21 PM
From:"Teresa P"
To:
"Public Comment" publiccomment@anaheim.net, "Ashleigh Aitken" AAitken@anahe im.ne t, "Carlos A. Leon"
CLeon@anaheim.net, "Ryan Balius" RBalius@anaheim.net, "Natalie Rubalcava" NRubalcava@anahe im.net, "Norma
C. Kurtz" NKurtz@anaheim.net, "Kristen Maahs" KMaahs@anaheim.net, "Natalie Meeks" NMe e ks@anaheim.net
Subject:[EXTERNAL] Festival development
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Dear Council Member,
I am writing to you as a resident of Belsomet to ask you to please vote "No" on the proposed apartments at the
Anaheim Hills Festival Center. I lived here during the Canyon Fire 2 in 2017, and I will never forget the
feeling of being stuck in my car, watching the smoke get closer, and literally not moving for hours - I never
did make it out of the area. It wasn't just "traffic" - it was a total standstill. The thought of adding
hundreds of new apartments and about 1000+ more people to that exact same escape route is terrifying to those
of us who have actually been in that situation.
The reports for this project say that adding these cars will "only" add about 7 minutes to the evacuation
time. But when you're already stuck for three hours and the fire is moving toward you, 7 minutes is a
lifetime. We don't have extra roads or "secret" ways out of the Hills; we all end up on the same few lanes.
Adding more people to a neighborhood that is already a bottleneck during a fire just feels like a tragedy
waiting to happen.
I understand that the city needs housing, but it shouldn't be built in a place where people are already
struggling to get out safely. Please don't make an existing danger even worse just for a new development. We
are asking you to prioritize the lives and safety of the people who already live here and pay taxes here.
Sincerely,
Teresa Ploum