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Date:2/5/2026 1:49:52 PM
From:"
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, "Natalie Meeks" NMeeks@anaheim.net
Subject:[EXTERNAL] Please vote NO on the Shea/Festival Center apartments - It's a safety issue
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Dear Council Member,
I am writing to you as a resident of Canyon Crest Neighborhood to ask you to please vote "No" on the propos ed 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 s tuc k in my c ar,
watching the smoke get closer, and literally not moving for over an hour. 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 thos e 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. W e don't have extra roads or "s ec ret" 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. The bottlenecks that already exist are insane – taking sometim es 40+ m inutes to go les s than 3 miles
during rush hour.
I understand that the city needs housing, but it shouldn't be built in a place where people are already struggling to get out s afely. Please
don't make an existing danger even worse just for a new development. W e are asking you to prioritiz e the lives and safety of the people
who already live here and pay taxes here.
Sincerely,
Dianne Markis