10 (090)You don't often get email from derwoood@gmail.com. Learn why this is important
Date:2/27/2026 5:46:07 PM
From:"Darren Davis" derwoood@gmail.com
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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sender and are expecting the message.
Dear Council Members,
I am writing to you as a resident of Anaheim to ask you to please vote "No" on the proposed apartments at the Anaheim Hills Festival Center. I
lived here during both the Freeway Complex Fire 2008 & Canyon Fire 2 in 2017, Our neighbor was evacuated both times. I will never forget the
feeling of being stuck in my car each time & watching the smoke & fire get closer and literally not moving for over an hour. It wasn't just "traffic"—
it was a total standstill & chaos. Adding hundreds of new apartments and about 1000+ more people to that exact same escape route is putting
lives at risk for the sake of corporate profit. This is very terrifying to those 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 could be the difference between life & death. We should be working at improving
evacuation times, not increasing them. We don't have extra roads or "secret" 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.
I understand that the city needs housing, but it shouldn't be built in a place where people are already struggling to get out safely. Please don't make
an existing danger even worse just for a new development. We are asking you to prioritize the lives and safety of the people who already live here
and pay taxes here. Safety should never be compromised.....Loss of life should never be risked.
Sincerely,
Darren Davis