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Date:3/2/2026 3:46:47 PM
From:"Katie Borgese"
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, and we packed up our cars in a panic, as smoke and ash consumed us. We tried to exit our
community (Nohl Villas) onto Nohl Ranch Rd (the ONLY exit) and we waited for hours to move. Cars were just parked in the road and it was
truly terrifying. 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.
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,
Kathryn Borgese