Dear Neighbor – Thank you to everyone that took the time to share their thoughts on the proposed project at the Festival Center. Our community is beautiful but it is the caring people that make it so special.

I will always make the safety of our community a priority, which includes wild fire safety and evacuation. Many residents vividly recall the unsuccessful evacuation during the 2017 fire and carry fear with them from that experience. Identifying what went wrong and fixing it to insure it won't happen again has been my mission. There were a lot of lessons learned in the 2017 evacuation which have been incorporated in to current evacuation plans. Since that time, the City's Fire Department, Police Department and Public Works have done significant work and coordinated with our adjacent and partner entities to develop an evacuation plan that addresses the previous failures. Since a full scale test of the plan isn't feasible since it would require complete shutdown of the 91 Freeway and 241 Toll Road, a traffic model was implemented to confirm the plan will work. Every potential fire is different, so multiple scenarios have been tested. All of the planning and traffic modelling include significant traffic generation from the Festival site. Whether it is a commercial use (like the theater was) or the proposed residential use, the traffic from the site will be very similar and is included in the evacuation models.

Another concern is the surrounding infrastructure available for evacuation. The traffic issues in Anaheim Hills are the result of freeway traffic cutting through our community to bypass gridlock on the 91 Freeway and 241 Toll Road. Without this cut through traffic, Anaheim Hills has sufficient infrastructure to serve the community. We must address this issue at its source and improvements are underway. The 91/241 Direct Connector project will begin construction this year and will be complete in 2029. Construction has already begun on a multi-phase improvement plan for the 91 Frwy which will add lanes and reduce weaving to avoid backups. These projects will not eliminate cut through traffic but will significantly reduce it.

When considering the proposed project, I also need to consider State mandates for housing. This site at the Festival Center is the only housing site in Anaheim Hills included in the City's Housing Plan. It is arguably the least impactful site in Anaheim Hills for housing since the site is already approved for development. The traffic generated by the proposed project is offset by the previous commercial use. The building size and scale is not out of place with the surrounding commercial uses. The project does not impact open space. The project retains the gym and the daycare which are important amenities for the community. The project development agreement requires investment in the Festival Center commercial uses to attract high quality tenants and help insure the economic viability of the center for many years to come.

On January 13, 2026, the City Council opened the public hearing to hear public testimony and staff presentations. After additional discussion, the City Council voted to continue the item to the February 3, 2026 meeting.

The City Council Agenda for the February 3rd meeting has been posted to the City's website, here: https://www.anaheim.net/2142/View-City-Council-Meetings. The applicant has requested a continuance to the March 3, 2026 City Council meeting, which the City Council will consider at tomorrow's meeting. Should the City Council vote to approve the continuance, the item would be discussed during the March 3rd City Council meeting.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions.

Sincerely,
Natalie Meeks
Anaheim Council Member
District 6