General (04)Date:2/4/2026 7:48:53 PM
From:"Dea Ogata"
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 – It's a safe ty issue!
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Dear Council Member,
I hope you will read every word of my letter and take it s erious ly, becaus e I would hate for it to one day become a part of my obituary.
I am writing to you as a res ident of Bels omet to as k you to pleas e vote "NO" on the proposed apartments at the Anaheim Hills Fes tival Center. I lived here during the
Canyon Fire 2 in 2017, and I will never forget the terrifying feeling of being evacuated. My daughter and I were frightened enough jus t trying to get our dogs and us
out - without the as s is tance of my hus band or s on to help, as they were at work and couldn’t get back home to us becaus e there was a four mile perimeter that was
only letting res idents go out of the area. But even that was n’t enough! We were stuck in my car alone, scared, watching the s moke coming clos er towards us from
two directions , and we literally did not move for over an hour. It was n't just "traffic" - it was a total standstill. There was no place to go. When we finally managed to
get to the other s ide of the 91 to meet up with the res t of our family, it looked like Armageddon all around us . Helicopters were diving into the river every two minutes .
The s ky was an eerie, orange tinted black color. And we literally watched as the flames jumped the lanes of the 91 freeway and began moving towards caus ing even
more devas tation. The 241 and 91 even freeways had to be clos ed. Where was our “es cape route” then?
The thought of adding hundreds of new apartments and about 1000+ more people to that exact same escape route is terrifying to thos e of us who have actually been
in that s ituation. Our only es cape route could take us hours , and that’s time we just don’t have.
The reports for this project s ay that adding thes e cars will "only" add about 7 minutes to the evacuation time. That’s a LIE. I CHALLENGE anyone who helped to
create that report to come s it with me in the s narled mes s of traffic, if God forbid we have another fire like the one in 2017. Becaus e when you're already s tuck for three
hours and the fire is moving toward you, 7 minutes is a lifetime - or a death sentence. We don't have extra roads or "s ecret" ways out of the Hills ; we all end up on the
s ame few s treets , in the s ame few lanes . We virtually have one way in and one way out. Adding more people to a neighborhood that is already a bottleneck during a
fire jus t feels like a tragedy waiting to happen. And I’m begging you as a mother - please don’t be res pons ible for killing my children.
I don’t care what part of Anaheim anyone lives in, eas t or wes t - we are NEIGHBORS. Does anybody really think that it’s worth ris king people’s lives jus t to add more
outrageous ly expens ive hous ing? I unders tand that the city needs hous ing, but it s houldn't be built in a place where people are already s truggling to get out s afely.
And if you’re going to add more hous ing, try making it more AFFORDABLE firs t! Please don't make an exis ting danger even wors e jus t for a new development. We
are as king you to prioritize the lives and s afety of the PEOPLE who already live here and pay taxes here. Don’t be s elfis h with our lives .
Sincerely,
Dea and Scott Ogata
Sent from Dea's iPhone ❤