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Date:3/2/2026 11:11:03 AM
From:"avril77"
To:"Public Comment" publiccomment@anaheim.net
Subject:[EXTERNAL] Represent your constituents - no to Festival Development Ce nter
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From: April Schley <
Date: February 28, 2026 at 10:34:26 PM PST
To: publiccomment@anaheim.net
Subject: Represent your constituents - no to Festival Development Center
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 i nfrastructure for more development i n
AH and you are actively putting lives in danger if you vote yes on this development. You are elected to represent your
community and your neighbors, and we are speaking out adamantly against thi s. The number one pri ori ty should be
safety. We are not opposed to additional development in locations that make sense wi th more exi t routes (i n the La
Palma area for example). The Festival location though would put hundreds of addi ti onal cars on the road in the case
of an evacuation. You are saying that the existing 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 di ners would avoid
and leave the area right away. Most of the people shopping there are from the local area anyway so i t wouldn't be
additional people. Having hundreds of new people living there would create a bottleneck that would completely
gridlock the area. To try to convince us that it 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 logi cal, or moral. I am shocked that i t
would be a part of any plan you are proposing. Have you sat in the traffic in this area on a typical afternoon -
yesterday it took me 30 minutes to get from my house to the Freeway which 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 Center to Canyon High 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 i n, 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, i t i s nothing
more than a soundbite.
Homes are already uninsurable in the area due to fire risk. We should not be i nviting more people i nto a si tuation that
history has shown can go from calm to life threatening very quickly. I have dri ven down the roads i n Anaheim Hills
with the medians on fire, trying desperately to get to my young kids at school, seeing the flames come closer with
every minute and people having to flee their neighborhoods on foot since they could not get out by car. We have all
experienced the reality of this frightening situation, we will not be misled by developers who have no vested i nterest
in our community outside of dollars. It is time to step up and stand for the resi dents you have been elected to
represent. You have a duty to ensure that growth happens responsibly.
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