Loading...
10 (51)Date:2/2/2026 7:56:27 PM From:"Rick Moyer" To:"Natalie Meeks" NMeeks@anaheim.net Cc: "Andrew Winger" "Linda" "Ashle igh Aitken" AAitke n@anaheim.net, "Carlos A. Leon" CLeon@anaheim.net, "Kristen Maahs" KMaahs@anahe im.ne t, "Ryan Balius" RBalius@anaheim.net, "Norma C. Kurtz" NKurtz@anaheim.net, "Natalie Rubalcava" NRubalcava@anahe im.ne t, "Public Comment" publiccomment@anaheim.net Subject:Re: [EXTERNAL] "Absolute Gridlock" Dear Natalie: Thank you for taking the time to explain your position. This is a matter of accountability. If you are so confident that the new Evacuation plan will address the critical issues raised by the Anaheim Hills community (e.g. gridlock, death traps, extraordinary delays, single lane passages/bottlenecks, potential direction into a fire, poor signage, etc.) then you should be willing to accept full responsibility if anything goes wrong with the evacuation during the next fire. Will you do this? Will you stand up during tomorrow night's city council meeting and announce that you will take full responsibility? If you won't then who will? The authors of the plan? Who will we hold accountable for casualties as a result of the next failed evacuation? Have you considered having a committee of concerned residents who actually use and know the roads review the plan and have input? Sincerely, Rick On Mon, Feb 2, 2026 at 2:08 PM Natalie Meeks <NMeeks@anaheim.net> wrote: Dear Neig hbor – Thank you to everyone tha t took the time to s hare their thoughts on the propos ed project a t the Fes tiva l C enter. O ur community is beautiful but it is the ca ring people tha t make it s o s pecia l. I will a lways make the s a fety of our community a priority, which includes wild fire s a fety a nd evac ua tion. Ma ny res idents vi vidly rec a l l the uns ucces s ful evacua tion during the 2017 fire and ca rry fea r with them from that experienc e. Identifying wha t went wrong and fixing it to ins ure it won’t ha ppen a g a in ha s been my mis s ion. There were a lot of les s ons learned i n the 2017 eva cuati on whic h ha ve been incorpora ted in to current evacua tion plans . Since that time, the City’s Fire Depa rtment, Pol i ce Department a nd Publ i c Works have done s ig nificant work and coordinated with our adjacent and partner entities to devel op a n evac ua tion plan tha t addres s es the previous failures . Since a full s ca le tes t of the plan is n’t fea s ible s ince it would require complete s hutdown of the 91 Freewa y and 241 Toll R oa d, a tra ffic model wa s implemented to confirm the plan will work. Every potentia l fi re is di fferent, s o multi pl e s c ena rios ha ve been tes ted. All of the planning and traffic modelling include s ig nifica nt traffic g enera tion from the Fes tiva l s ite. Whether i t is a commercia l us e (like the theater wa s ) or the propos ed res idential us e, the traffic from the s ite will be very s imilar a nd i s inc l uded i n the evacua tion models . Another concern is the s urrounding infra s tructure a vailable for eva cuation. The tra ffic i s s ues in Ana hei m Hi l l s are the res ult of freewa y traffic cutting through our community to bypas s gridlock on the 91 Freewa y a nd 241 T ol l R oad. Without thi s c ut throug h traffic, Anaheim Hills ha s s ufficient infra s tructure to s erve the community. We mus t a ddres s this i s s ue a t its s ourc e a nd improvements are underwa y. The 91/241 Direct Connector project will beg in cons truc tion thi s yea r and wi l l be complete i n 2029. C ons truction has a lready beg un on a multi-pha s e improvement pla n for the 91 Frwy whic h will add lanes a nd reduc e weavi ng to avoi d backups . Thes e projects will not eliminate cut throug h tra ffic but will s ig nifica ntly reduce it. When cons idering the propos ed project, I a ls o need to cons ider State ma nda tes for hous i ng . T hi s s i te at the Fes ti val C enter i s the onl y hous ing s ite in Anaheim Hills included in the C ity’s Hous ing Plan. It is arg ua bly the lea s t impac tful s ite i n Anaheim Hills for hous ing s ince the s ite is alrea dy approved for development. The traffic g enerated by the propos ed project i s offs et by the previous commercia l us e. The building s ize a nd s ca le is not out of pla ce with the s urrounding commercial us es . The project does not i mpa ct open s pa ce. The project reta ins the g ym and the da yca re which are importa nt amenities for the c ommuni ty. T he projec t devel opment ag reement requires inves tment in the Fes tival C enter commercial us es to a ttract high qua l i ty tenants and help ins ure the economic via bility of the center for many years to come. O n January 13, 2026, the C ity C ouncil opened the public hearing to hear public tes timony a nd s ta ff pres entati ons . After additi ona l dis cus s ion, the C ity C ouncil voted to continue the item to the Februa ry 3, 2026 meeting . The C ity C ouncil Ag enda for the Februa ry 3r d meeting has been pos ted to the City’s webs ite, here: https ://www.anaheim.net/2142/View-C ity-C ouncil-Meeting s . Th e app lican t has req u est ed a c o n t in u an c e t o t h e M ar ch 3, 2026 Cit y Co u n cil meet ing, wh ich t he City Co un cil will con sider at to mo rrow’s meet ing. Should the C ity C ouncil vote to a pprove the continuance, the item would be dis cus s ed during the Ma rch 3rd City C ouncil meeting . Pleas e do not hes itate to contact me if you have a dditional ques tions . Sincerely, Nata lie Meeks Ana heim C ouncil Member Dis trict 6 From: Ri ck Moye r < Se nt: Sunday, Fe bruary 1, 2026 9:44 PM To: A shl e i gh Aitke n <A Aitken@anahe i m.ne t>; Public Comme nt <publiccomment@anaheim.ne t>; Natal i e Me e ks <N Me e ks@anahe i m.ne t>; Ryan Balius <RBal i us@anaheim.net>; Carl os A. Leon <CLeon@anahe i m.ne t>; Natal i e Rubal cava <N Rubal cava@anahe i m.ne t>; N orma C. Kurtz <N Kurtz@anahe im.ne t>; Kriste n Maahs <KMaahs@anahe i m.ne t> Subje ct: [EXTERN AL] "A bsol ute Gri dl ock" Warning: This email originated from outside the City of Anaheim. Do not click links or open attachme nts unle ss you recognize the sender and are expecting the message. Dear Mayor Aitken and Anaheim City Council Members: The purpose of this correspondence is to voice objection to the Festival Center development, as well as any other proposed high-density housing projects in Anaheim Hills. To understand the basis for my objection, I need to provide some background. My name i s D r. Ri ck Moyer and I am a retired Internist. After working in Emergency Medicine at a Level I trauma center for a few years at the begi nni ng of my medical career, I established a medical practice in San Bernardino, while my wife Kaye completed a residency i n Anesthesiology at Loma Linda. In 1995 we purchased the home of former Angel baseball player Fred Lynn. Our home is situated on a 2 acre parcel uphill from Serrano Avenue, within the Santiago Geologic Hazard Abatement District (SGHAD). From our backyard we can see a large portion of Serrano Avenue. While working in the field of Emergency Medicine I worked with a group of doctors who manned helicopter rescue missions. This provided me with experience in caring for burn victims i n the field. At the end of this paragraph is a link to a Channel 7 news clip from October 9, 2017, the day of the Canyon 2 fire. We live on Via El Estribo and spent the day protecting our home from embers and spot fires using our fire pump and protective gear. Around one minute and 47 seconds into the clip, the reporter describes the evacuation route on Serrano Avenue as "ABSOLUTE GRIDLOCK". This refers to a total standstill in traffic, where movement is impossible in either direction. ht t p s ://a b c 7 .c o m /v i d e o C l i p /2 5 1 2 9 6 4 /h t t p s://a b c 7 .c o m /v i d e o C l i p /2 5 1 2 9 6 4 / My wife and I can attest to the GRIDLOCK as we can see Serrano from our back yard. At one point in the day, when we were surrounded by fire and exhausted beyond measure, we had to decide whether to stay and fight the fire or evacuate. Noting the GRIDLOCK on Serrano, which was the only way out, we decided we’d be better off taking our chances fighting the fire than becoming victims of a failed evacuation. I should mention that the fire commander on scene (from El Toro, not Anaheim) recruited us and our equipment to stop the forward progression of the fire. We were successful and later received recognition from Cal-Trans for our involvement in what was referred to as the “Zone of Danger”. Whether it's Lahaina, Paradise, Anaheim Hills or anywhere else for that matter, a "DEATH TRAP" may be created by a bottlenecked evacuation route or GRID LOCK. Although Serrano is uphill from Santa Ana Canyon, the GRIDLOCK on Serrano was due to back-up from congestion further down the hill on Santa Ana Canyon. In wind-driven fires such as the Canyon 2 fire, smoke blows hard, stays low to the ground, and may engulf vehicles. Unless you have specialized respiratory equipment, you cannot avoid inhaling the carbon monoxide (and other toxins) that are present in the smoke. Once in the bloodstream, the carbon monoxide molecules displace oxygen molecules from red blood cells. This leads to low oxygen levels, or "hypoxia", which in turn causes sedation, confusion, possible seizures and potentially even death. Complications of smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning are a major reason why people are found dead in their cars following evacuations from a fire. Our community was fortunate not to have more victims during the f a i l e d e v a c u a t i o nfailed e v a c u a t i o n that occurred during the Canyon 2 fire. When D r. Kaye Moyer and I served on the SGHAD board a few years ago we learned a little bit about Anaheim's inner workings. For example, we learned that Anaheim often relies on outside vendors to provide summary reports and recommendations. This serves to transfer liability from the city to an outside party. Although I’ve not seen a recent report regarding the E vacuation Plan for Anaheim Hills, I believe you have probably been provided with a report indicating the Plan is acceptable and therefore you should approve the development. However, I have just provided you with eyewitness accounts of the ABSOLUTE GRIDLOCK that occurred during the Canyon 2 fire evacuation. I have also provided you with information regarding the DEATH TRAP that is created by GRID LOCK. You can search the internet and see how many people died in the Lahaina and Paradise fires. It is also my understanding that dozens, if not hundreds, of Anaheim Hills residents have sent emails, attended City Council meetings, etc. voicing their objections to adding high-density development in Anaheim Hills due to the traffic problems that already exist. My wife, who grew up with NASCAR racing legends Bobby and D onnie Allison, recently commented that due to the freeway short-cutters and congestion, getting on Serrano and Santa Ana Canyon in the afternoons carries the same danger and anxiety as leaving a pit stop and entering a NASCAR race. Also while serving on the SGHAD board, we came across a book called Landforming, by Horst Schor. A chapter of the book (attached) is dedicated to the development of Anaheim Hills. In his book, Mr. Schor describes how the development of Anaheim Hills was almost scrapped due to challenges created by steep topography, unfavorable geology and canyon conditions. Original plans which included high-density housing had to be ditched and the City had to implement a novel and unproven method of grading called “Landform grading and revegetation”. Consequently, the geography of Anaheim Hills only allows a limited capacity for ingress and egress. Many of the roads from “up the hill” exit onto single lane roads before exiting the area, setting up multiple opportunities for “D EATH TRAPS” during an evacuation. The geography cannot be changed. All of this was previously reviewed by the Anaheim City Council back in 1975 but apparently long forgotten. Anaheim Hills just cannot handle the increase in vehicular traffic that will come with high density development. Why is high-density development in Anaheim Hills even being discussed? Is the city that is home to “The Happiest Place on Earth” so desperate for additional revenue that you would jeopardize the lives of the residents of Anaheim Hills? Please say NO to any current and/or future high-density development in Anaheim Hills until such time that an Evacuation Plan can be developed that is proven to be safe and effective, thoroughly tested and approved by the residents. I'll close with one last question for each of you - Will you be able to sleep at night if you personally approve of any of these projects and we have casualties from another failed evacuation? Sincerely, Richard J. Moyer, M.D. -- Dr. Rick Moyer -- Dr. Rick Moyer