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Date:2/3/2026 6:53:39 AM
From:"John Belanger"
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] Please Vote NO on the Shea/Festival Center Apartments – Public Safe ty Concern
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Dear Council Member,
I am writing as a resident of Anaheim Hills to respectfully urge you to vote NO on the proposed Shea/Festi val Center apartment
development.
I lived here during Canyon Fire 2 in 2017, and I will never forget that experience. I was trapped i n my car for over an hour, barely
moving, while smoke thickened and the fire moved closer. This was not ordinary congesti on—it was a complete standsti ll during
an active wildfire evacuation. Anyone who lived through that event understands how vulnerable our neighborhood already is.
The traffic and evacuation studies for this project suggest the added development would i ncrease evacuati on times by “only”
about seven minutes. That number may sound minor on paper, but in a real emergency, seven minutes can be the difference
between getting out safely and being overtaken by fire. When evacuation times are already measured in hours, every additional
minute matters.
Anaheim Hills has very limited evacuation routes. There are no alternate roads or secondary exi ts—resi dents are funneled into
the same few arteries. Adding hundreds of apartments and well over a thousand additional resi dents to an area that already
functions as a bottleneck during emergencies significantly increases the risk to everyone who lives here.
I understand the city’s need for housing, but development should not come at the expense of public safety. Placing hi gh-density
housing in a high fire severity zone with known evacuation constraints creates a foreseeable and preventable danger.
I respectfully ask you to prioritize the safety of current and future residents and vote NO on thi s project.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
John Belanger
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