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Susana Barrios
From:Maria Bessem <maria.v.bessem@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, August 17, 2026 7:54 PM
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] East Anaheim housing opposition
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Dear City of Anaheim Planning Department,
I am writing to express my opposition to additional housing development in Anaheim Hills, particularly
given the existing challenges and risks associated with wildfire evacuations.
Wildfires can change rapidly and without warning. Evacuation routes that may look sufficient on paper
can become unusable because of fire, smoke, emergency response activity, traffic collisions, or other
rapidly changing circumstances. The experience during Canyon Fire 2 demonstrated how quickly these
conditions can affect evacuation.
The EIR should carefully consider a critical question: Is it appropriate to add hundreds of new residences
and vehicles to an area where residents’ ability to evacuate safely during a major wildfire cannot be
guaranteed?
When public safety and human lives are involved, evacuation planning should not rely on the assumption
that all designated routes will remain open and accessible throughout a wildfire emergency.
Maria Bessem
714-309-8804
130 N AVENIDA CORDOBA
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