Anaheim council approves 447‑unit Festival Center project despite wildfire evacuation concerns

The Anaheim City Council voted to approve the Anaheim Hills Festival redevelopment project, certifying the final environmental impact report and adopting related land‑use amendments and a development agreement that together allow construction of 447 multifamily units on the Festival Shopping Center site.

Mayor Aiken convened the continued public hearing after dozens of residents spoke during a lengthy public‑comment period. Many speakers who live in Anaheim Hills described prior wildfire evacuations and urged the council to reject the project, arguing the area is a very high fire severity zone with constrained evacuation routes. ‘‘We were told to evacuate and there was nowhere to go,’’ said Joseph Guadarrama during public comment, invoking the canyon runs that blocked residents in a previous wildfire. Multiple commenters said evacuation modeling shows three‑hour clearance times for parts of the hills and warned that…