On Tuesday, city council members narrowly voted 4-3 to approve and move forward with the development \u2013 dubbed the Anaheim Hills Festival Project<\/a> \u2013 despite intense push back from many residents.<\/p>\n Councilwoman Norma Kurtz said every district in the city should be treated the same in terms of resources and pointed to challenges in the district she represents in the resort area.<\/p>\n According to city staff, the area has seen 25% of the homes built in Anaheim in roughly the last 25 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI have neighborhoods in my district that have one way in, one way out. I have neighborhoods where an emergency vehicle cannot get through because of the parking situation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery resident in every neighborhood in Anaheim, deserves the same resources as any other neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, Councilwomen Kristen Maahs and Natalie Meeks were the dissenting votes.<\/p>\n Aitken acknowledged that the development would bring needed housing to the city and other benefits, but raised public safety concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I\u2019m hearing and what I\u2019ve been thinking about over the last couple months is that we are hopeful that goats, one abatement marshal and a Know Your Way plan, are going to be enough to evacuate every senior, every child, every family from the area,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that these remedies seem adequate, but for me, they are untested and aspirational.\u201d<\/p>\n Aitken also said officials represent all of Anaheim, not just their districts.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of exporting problems from districts to other districts, why don\u2019t we import solutions and import better practices? Because it just breaks my heart to think that you have an issue in your district, and your solution is, \u2018I\u2019m going to put it in yours too,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n It comes after a majority of city council members shot down a nearly 500-unit luxury apartment development in Deer Canyon in 2024<\/a> at the recommendation of staff after a host of residents raised similar public safety concerns about that project raising evacuation times.<\/p>\n Unlike the Deer Canyon project, city staff recommended officials approve the Festival project.<\/p>\n Anaheim Fire Chief Pat Russell said he was not comfortable saying which project was safer but there were clear differences.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Deer Canyon project, in my opinion, was a much larger, much more complex project and putting in an entirely new community into that canyon was much different than this project,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava said she trusts staff\u2019s recommendations and more housing is needed in Anaheim Hills.\u00a0<\/p>\n She also said the development isn\u2019t the same as the Deer Canyon proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a different project. This is an infill project, and I really do feel strongly about the fact that Anaheim Hills does need to see a little more development, and we need to spread our multifamily units across the city,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have 18,000 units to build in the next five to six years, and it needs to be done in places other than just district three, four and five.\u201d<\/p>\n About 76% of homes built in the city between 2000-2025 were in District 3, 4, and 5 \u2013 the central part of the city. About 9% of homes in that same time frame were built in District 6 \u2013 the East end of town, according to city staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n The other 15% of homes were built in Districts 1 and 2 \u2013 the west end.<\/p>\n Tuesday\u2019s decision also comes after city council members continued the public hearing on the proposal in an effort to get the developers to ensure unionized labor works on parts of the project after union workers publicly raised concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n City staff said Tuesday that developers reached an agreement with \u200b\u200bthe Western States Regional Council of Carpenters union at the end of February.<\/p>\n The developer, Shea Properties, did not speak to the project at this week\u2019s hearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to city lobbyist disclosures, they hired Curt Pringle<\/a>, former Anaheim mayor, and his lobbyist firm in 2023 to lobby for the project.<\/p>\n The Festival Development in Anaheim<\/p>\n The Anaheim Festival development is slated to be a four-story apartment building with 447 units wrapped around a 954-space parking garage, swimming pools, a fitness center, a dog park and bluff park open to the public.<\/p>\n Most of the proposed housing project at the festival shopping center sits in an area the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention has deemed a very high fire hazard severity zone<\/a>.<\/p>\n As part of a development agreement<\/a>, developers are expected to give $100,000 to Anaheim Fire and Rescue to fund wildfire mitigation efforts and another $100,000 to Anaheim police to help support evacuation training.<\/p>\n They would also install a camera and Emergency Vehicle Preemption system on Santa Ana Canyon Road at four intersections to help improve emergency response times in the area.<\/p>\n According to a staff report<\/a>, the developer will also have to pay $2.4 million in park and recreation impact fees and $1.8 million in transportation impact fees.<\/p>\n An evacuation travel time analysis completed by Dudek<\/a> found that the proposed housing project would increase current evacuation times without the operational cinema in the area by 14 minutes in the worst case wildfire scenario.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CityCouncil_Anaheim_Jan13_2026_Taylor-25.jpg\")
Council Member Norma Campos Kurtz at the Anaheim City Council meeting on Jan. 13, 2026. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DeerCanyon_Elattar_2024_Anaheim-2.jpg\")
Deer Canyon Park Preserve in Anaheim Hill. Credit: HOSAM ELATTAR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DeerCanyon_Elattar_2024_Anaheim-1.jpg\")
Credit: Hosam Elattar \/ VOICE OF OC<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CityCouncil_Anaheim_Jan13_2026_Taylor-13.jpg\")
Attendees clap after a public comment during the Anaheim City Council meeting on Jan. 13, 2026. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n