10 (133)You don't often get email from avril77@aol.com. Learn why this is important
Date:2/28/2026 10:34:26 PM
From:"April Schley" avril77@aol.com
To:"Public Comment" publiccomment@anaheim.net
Subject:[EXTERNAL] Represent your constituents - no to Festival Development Ce nter
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Dear Anaheim City Council Representatives and Natalie Meeks (Anaheim Hills Representati ve),
I have lived in Anaheim Hills for 20 years and have experienced 2 major fire evacuati ons. Multiple homes on my street burned to
the ground. There is endless evidence that we do not have the infrastructure for more development i n AH and you are acti vely
putting lives in danger if you vote yes on this development. You are elected to represent your communi ty and your neighbors,
and we are speaking out adamantly against this. The number one priority should be safety. We are not opposed to additional
development in locations that make sense with more exit routes (in the La Palma area for example). The Festival location
though would put hundreds of additional cars on the road in the case of an evacuation. You are saying that the exi sti ng
evacuation (without the development) would be 3 hours long - that should be unacceptable to ALL of you already and this should
have never even been considered.
Every study I have heard to make the case for this development is highly flawed. Thi s development is not the equivalent of
having cars for a retail space there. In the case of a fire in the area, shoppers and diners would avoi d and leave the area ri ght
away. Most of the people shopping there are from the local area anyway so it wouldn't be addi ti onal people. Havi ng hundreds of
new people living there would create a bottleneck that would completely gridlock the area. To try to convi nce us that i t will all be
ok, I have heard suggestions to shelter in place. Would you want your young child to shelter in place, your elderly parents? It is
not even logical, or moral. I am shocked that it would be a part of any plan you are proposing. Have you sat in the traffi c i n thi s
area on a typical afternoon - yesterday it took me 30 minutes to get from my house to the Freeway whi ch i s only a 3 mi nute drive
during the day. During the fire evacuation it took me 2 hours to get just from the Festival C enter to C anyon Hi gh School. And
don't get me started on the Know Your Way plan. It has never been tested, no one even knows what zone they are in, what
direction they are supposed to go. And when I have looked at it, it is completely agai nst any sort of logi cal route that people will
follow when they are trying to escape quickly. Just because you have a fun name to call the plan doesn't make it effective. To all
of us who live here, that know first-hand the seriousness of a fire evacuation, it is nothing more than a soundbite.
Homes are already uninsurable in the area due to fire risk. We should not be inviting more people i nto a si tuation that history has
shown can go from calm to life threatening very quickly. I have driven down the roads i n Anaheim Hills wi th the medi ans on fi re,
trying desperately to get to my young kids at school, seeing the flames come closer wi th every mi nute and people having to flee
their neighborhoods on foot since they could not get out by car. We have all experi enced the reali ty of thi s frightening si tuation,
we will not be misled by developers who have no vested interest in our community outside of dollars. It is time to step up and
stand for the residents you have been elected to represent. You have a duty to ensure that growth happens responsi bly.
I urge you to vote against this Festival Shopping Center housing development and all simi lar projects. There i s no question that a
housing development in this area would endanger lives.
April Schley
Morningstar Drive
Anaheim Hills, CA