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Date:2/3/2026 3:10:51 PM
From:"Lori Hughes"
To:"Public Comment" publiccomment@anaheim.net
Subject:[EXTERNAL] Re: Anaheim Hills Festival Center Project
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February 3, 2026
City of Anaheim
Mayor and Members of the City Council
Regarding: Anaheim Hills Festival Center
447-unit residential project (Development Application No. 2023-00043)
Dear Mayor and Members of the City Council,
I am writing to formally express my opposition to the proposed 447-unit residential development at Anaheim Hills Festival Center.
I am an Anaheim Hills resident, and my entire family have been Anaheim Hills residents for the last 25 years.
I am kindly requesting that the real life and death concerns regarding evacuations in our community be taken very seriously. Voting yes on the
housing development at Festival Center will bring too many additional cars into the mix, making evacuations during a fire far more difficult and
dangerous than was already the case in previous fires.
I have heard that things will be done differently when the next fire comes to our community, but this offers no assurance at all! Whatever different
evacuation scenarios have been proposed, have not been tested in real life! The infrastructure remains the same, no matter what!
The typical time to travel 1/4 to 1/2 mile during the 2017 fires was about 2 1/2 hours. How could that have even been acceptable to begin with!
This supposed 7 additional minutes evacuation time to get out with the new housing project is absolutely preposterous!!! Fires are unpredictable,
people in a panic are unpredictable. It’s a nice idea to think that all would go well and be fine, but that is simply not realistic!
Eleven of my family members reside in Anaheim Hills (including my 93 year old mother). Six members of my family live behind or near the Festival
Center. They have been through the last few fires, and their experiences during the 2017 evacuation were terrifying!!!
I am deeply concerned about the safety and well being of my family members, and neighbors who live here! I know that in a real life situation, I
would stop at nothing to rescue a member of my family. I have heard others state exactly the same thing!
The new controlled “test plans” to evacuate the area is not enough to justify voting yes on this project. Test plans are just that, test plans.
Please, please, don’t dismiss the community’s real life and death concerns that are based on past frightening experiences and credible, well
documented evidence concerning the very real lack of infrastructure for this project.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and take seriously these things.
Sincerely yours,
Lori Hughes