Navasota planning panel approves Masterbuilt Ministries parking expansion at 304 Fraser Street

The Navasota Planning and Zoning Commission on April 24 approved a preliminary site plan submitted by Masterbuilt Ministries Inc. to expand and pave parking serving a commercial day care and a nonconforming place of worship at 304 Fraser Street, Navasota, Grimes County.

Planning staff told the commission the project would replace grass and gravel with paved concrete, add landscaping and provide more parking than the building requires; the developer also agreed to construct a realignment and modest widening of Milliken Street where it is narrow. Planning staff said a license agreement will be required if any paving or parking improvements are located in public right-of-way, and that agreement would require the property owner to repair or pay to repair any city or third-party utilities affected by the paving.

The commission’s discussion focused on drainage and floodplain risk. Engineers from NBC answered detailed questions about a revised drainage report and how the proposed detention pond and inlets behave in high-intensity storms. NBC engineer Cole Christian said in the commission packet the drainage report had been revised and that, for a large storm event, “in a 50 year event or a hundred year event, most, if not all, of the parking areas will be underwater because this isn't the hundred year floodplain.” Christian and other engineers explained that lower parts of the new parking area are inside the 100-year floodplain and that pipes and inlets would be full in large events.

Commissioners probed grading and flow lines on the plan. One commissioner questioned whether a nearly flat elevation across the site would direct water reliably into proposed flow lines; an NBC engineer explained grading changes, including a two-foot drop at a driveway, are intended to route runoff into the pond and existing inlet system. Commissioners also discussed an inlet that has been damaged by truck traffic across the street and said the new design captures more runoff than the prior condition.

Other technical details discussed at the meeting: the project includes two wall-pack lights mounted to the building, to be shielded and no taller than the local 25-foot limit; the lighting specification cited a 1-foot-candle minimum; landscaping for the lot includes islands and meets the ordinance standard of roughly one tree per 12 spaces; the plan provides two separate paved ADA routes to the building. Planning staff said some parking will be in the public right-of-way along Chase Street and therefore function as public street parking rather than private lot parking.

The commission received an approximate cost estimate during discussion; a speaker said a rough estimate could be about $700,000 but noted that was an informal guess. After discussion, Commissioner Copeland moved to approve the preliminary site plan as submitted; Commissioner Wisner seconded. The commission voted by voice and standing; the chair announced “Aye” and said there was no opposition, and the motion carried. The commission’s approval is for the preliminary site plan only; a license agreement and additional engineering clarifications were discussed as next steps before final construction permits.

The commission and applicants—identified in the meeting as Masterbuilt Ministries Inc., NBC (engineers Cole Christian and Paul Malik), and city planning staff—agreed the project will improve parking and walkability near Chase Street but flagged downstream flood concerns and the limits of local control over creek and watershed maintenance. The planning staff explained the term “nonconforming” in the ordinance refers to a longstanding use that predates changes in zoning, not a new conditional-use approval.

The commission approved the motion to accept the preliminary site plan and moved on to other agenda items.