COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — A lot of pushback from neighbors at a Colorado Springs City Council over a controversial emergency evacuation plan.
"I honestly don't know how I'm going to vote right now," said City Councilmember Nancy Henjum.
The meeting lasted for hours and the city council voted unanimously in favor of the plan. It is the first out of two votes.
"Nothing is perfect. There is no perfect here," said Henjum.
Neighbors who oppose this evacuation plan are hoping that the city council will make a different decision two weeks from now at the next reading.
"The odds that there is going to be police in every corner helping people, it's just not realistic," said one woman who opposes the plan.
The opposing group drafted their own ordinance and asked City Council to consider it several months ago.
The ordinance codifies the proposed evacuation plan into law which breaks the city up into smaller evacuation zones with the goal of making evacuations run more smoothly.
Community members who are against it say the proposed plan does not do enough.
They are concerned that the plan does not take into account the rapid growth Colorado Springs is seeing and many worry that in the event of an emergency, traffic would be deadly.
#HAPPENINGNOW Mayor @JohnSuthers speaking on the City-proposed ordinance for emergency evacuations. The idea has caused concern for some neighbors who call the idea “inadequate”. @KOAA @CityofCOS https://t.co/RSkUl2nu8Z pic.twitter.com/qsGH47RPvm
— Natalie Chuck KOAA (@NatalieChuck) July 12, 2022
Mayor John Suthers spoke for the first time on the subject, supporting the ordinance even after being inundated with emails from people who wanted him to strike it down.
"The nature and extent of the event will dictate how the plan is actually executed. You simply cannot tell people in advance the precise route to evacuate, because that could result in unnecessary loss of life"
Many of the people in the room remember ten years ago when they were forced to evacuate during the Waldo Canyon Fire.
"The wave of flame that was coming down through that area, which is now a new development project on Centennial, just scared her to death and that she was at a point where she was going to evacuate the car and run for it," said one man, reflecting on the moment his wife was evacuating their neighborhood during Waldo Canyon.
The ordinance would be reviewed annually and the council will make a final decision at a meeting in two weeks.
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