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Date:3/1/2026 7:06:23 PM
From:"Amy Adamo"
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 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 the Canyon Fire 2 in 2017.
My business is in Corona. As soon as the fire jumped the 241 toll road, I started home. I never made it. With traffic, it was absolute gridlock and
after almost three hours, I gave up trying to get home. By then, my neighborhood was actively burning. Instead, my family and I checked into a
hotel and watched on the TV as my immediate next door neighbor’s home was destroyed. Same as my neighbor two doors away and several
other homes in my neighborhood.
Several days later, when the evacuation for my neighborhood was lifted, I returned home to see what was left. Thankfully, my home remained
standing largely untouched sustaining minor damage.
The thought of adding hundreds of new apartments and about 1000+ more people to that exact same escape route is 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 is a lifetime. 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.
And finally, I would like to mention the cost of homeowners insurance. My policy was roughly $5000 annually in 2017 prior to Canyon Fire 2.
Now, with the designation fire hazard, the premium this year is $16,000! With no claims ever filed. And I’m grateful my policy was even
renewed. More congestion means longer response time. And a longer response time means next time a fire sweeps through my neighborhood, I
will not be so fortunate. With additional cars and an even greater degree of gridlock, I’ll likely have no home to try to get back to.
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.
Sincerely,
Amy Adamo - Trustee Adamo Family Trust