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Date:3/2/2026 8:00:33 AM
From:"Neil M"
To:"Public Comment" publiccomment@anaheim.net
Subject:[EXTERNAL] Save Lives!!! - Please vote NO on the Shea/Festival Center apartments – It's a safety issue
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Dear C ouncil Member,
For the reas ons outlined below, I implore you to plea s e vote "No" on the propos ed a pa rtments at the Ana hei m Hi l l s Fes ti val C enter.
I have lived here for nea rly 30 years , including during the 2017 Canyon Fire 2, a nd I will never forg et the feeling of bei ng s tuck i n my c a r
after a n ordered evacua tion with wha tever pers onal belongings a nd pets I could gra b, wa tc hi ng the fl a mes and s moke g et clos er, and
literally being s tuck behind a nd impos s ible line for over a n hour as the fla mes and s moke a pproac hed. It wa s n't jus t "tra ffi c"—it was a
total s tands till. Since then things ha ve become wors e - even without a n ordered evacua ti on! It ha s bec ome a da i l y oc currenc e that
thous ands of ca rs a re us ing the Serra no route to circumvent the daily tra ffic s tands till on Northbound 55 to Eas tbound C A R oute 91.
Even with that, thos e s ame vehicles ha ve to wait in line for hours to enter the Ea s tbound 91 a t Wei r C a nyon, only to c ontinue s tanding
s till for hours . B a ckups are now s tarting almos t on a daily ba s is between 1:00 pm a nd 2:00 pm. I c an n o t im ag in e wh at t h in g s w o u ld
b e lik e if th ere was a cu rrent o rder to ev acu at e and all residen t s were add ed to t h e alr ead y im p o ssib le t raffic p at t ern s. If y o u
h av e n o t wit n essed t his situ at ion y ou rself, yo u h av e no bu siness vo t ing "Yes" o n th is m at t er u n t il y o u d o so .
Us ing C anyon C reek to g et to Fes tiva l a nd Wes tbound Santa Ana C a nyon ta kes Anaheim Hi l l s res idents about 45 mi nutes i n the
afternoon to travel a bout 1 mile, and the s ame backups a re alrea dy occurring on Eas tbound Santa Ana C a nyon wes t of Weir C anyon
each workday. The th ou g ht o f ad din g hu nd reds o f n ew apartments an d ab ou t 1,000+ m o re p eo p le t o t h at exac t same esc ap e
ro u te is terrify ing to t ho se of us wh o h av e actu ally been in th at sit uatio n years ago b efo r e t h e c u rren t t r affic p r o b lems h av e
su r fac ed , an d with t he n ew cu rrent situ at ion ou t lined abo v e, wou ld creat e an even wo r se p ro b lem - m ak in g it n ear ly imp o ssib le
situ at ion fo r anyo ne tryin g t o vac at e t his area as p art of an o rdered ev acu at ion . Th is is o n ly p ilin g o n t h e c u rren t p ro b lem
wh ich n eed s t o b e add ressed b efo re ev en th inkin g abo ut ad din g 1,000 plu s mo re p eo p le t o t h e same area.
I unders ta nd the reports being us ed a s a bas is for this project s ay that a dding thes e ca rs will "only" a dd a bout 7 minutes to the
eva cuation time. B ut when you're a lready s tuck for three hours a nd the fire is moving towa rd you, 7 mi nutes i s a lifetime, and thi s
does n't even a ccount for the current dela ys without adding more people! We don't ha ve extra roa ds or "s ec ret" ways out of the Hi l l s ;
we a ll end up on the s a me few routes and lanes . Adding more people to a neighborhood tha t is a l ready a bottl eneck on a da i l y bas i s -
let a lone during a fire - jus t feels like a tragedy waiting to happen and s omething which I would c ons ider a s irres pons ible.
I unders ta nd that the city needs hous ing , but it s houldn't be built in a place where people a re a l ready s trug g ling to g et out s afel y.
Pleas e don't make a n exis ting danger even wors e jus t for a new development. I am as ki ng you to priori tize the l i ves a nd s afety of the
people who a lready live here a nd ha ve been paying taxes for yea rs . Than k y ou fo r y ou r "N o " v o t e o n t h is im p o r t an t an d u r g en t
mat t er !
Sincerely,
Neil McVea n