Madrona and Queen Anne residents ask council to adjust neighborhood centers and protect steep slopes

Multiple neighborhood speakers at the June 23 public hearing urged the council to make targeted changes to the 1 Seattle map that would limit up‑zoning in steep and landslide‑prone areas and protect emergency access on Queen Anne Hill.

Susan McCormick, representing Madrona residents, said a petition of more than 1,330 signatories asked that the proposed Madrona Neighborhood Center be redrawn to exclude steep slopes east and west of 30th Avenue and to avoid landslide‑prone stretches such as Madrona Drive near the Route 2 bus corridor. "The boundary should be adjusted to exclude the steep slopes," McCormick said, and she asked the council to remove steep slope and landslide areas from any planned up‑zoning along the road.

Doug Lind and Morgan Robinson, long‑time Madrona residents, described lots that back onto ravines, contain underground water, and are subject to landslides; they urged that landslide hazard areas and steep slope lots be designated off‑limits to increased density. Lind noted that many privately planted trees on those lots already provide slope stabilization and ecological benefit.

On Queen Anne, residents asked the council to correct an apparent application of neighborhood center criteria that they said had been improperly applied in up‑zone determinations for Tenth Avenue West and adjacent Queen Anne Boulevard. Kathleen Southwick (north section of Tenth Avenue West) and Don Seiler (Queen Anne community) described constrained arterial access on the hill, narrow streets, and increased emergency response times when density rises. Nancy Gento, a retired hospital administrator, provided emergency‑response context and data: she said first responders were unavailable 14% of the time last year and warned that narrower streets and higher density could worsen outcomes in time‑sensitive emergencies.

Separately, Sean Holland, speaking for about 850 Bryant neighborhood residents, asked the council to drop or rethink a proposed Bryant neighborhood center because, he said, Bryant lacks the commercial base used to justify a center: Bryant has far fewer retail establishments and no major transit stop, he said, and increased residential density there would likely increase driving rather than reduce it.

Speakers asked the council to use neighborhood‑level edits rather than a one‑size‑fits‑all map. The council did not take votes at the hearing; residents asked for map revisions and for planning staff to revise capacity estimates and to consider site‑specific geology and emergency access in rezoning decisions.