Board allows front-setback reduction at 418 East Chase Street to avoid steep slope

The Navasota Board of Adjustment on Nov. 12 approved a front-setback variance for 418 East Chase Street, allowing a 10-foot setback from the northern property line instead of the 25-foot requirement in the General Business district (Article 11B-1).

City staff told the board the lot slopes significantly toward the adjacent creek, making the standard footprint difficult to place on level ground. Staff characterized the condition as not self-induced and said that even with a 10-foot front setback the house would sit more than 30 feet from the edge of pavement on narrow Chase Street.

Applicant Sean Roth, who said he represents Blue Skies Trust and owns the property at 418 East Chase Street, told the board he measured the distance from Chase Street to the property line at 37 feet and that placing the house 10 feet from the property line would put the house about 47 feet from the street. He described the desired home as a single-family dwelling with an attached three-car garage and said he plans to live there in a few years.

‘‘So that bottom picture right there, that survey, that’s where I’m allowed to build right now…with Chase Street here and the creek here, it really is the footprint of here that it goes like this. It dips down a lot,’’ Roth said, describing the site constraints.

The public hearing was closed and the board approved Order No. 4-2025 by voice vote; the transcript records ‘‘Aye’’ votes and the presiding officer declared the motion passed at 6:20 p.m. The hearing transcript does not list individual named vote tallies.

The variance allows the property owner to move the house footprint forward to avoid steep terrain; the decision does not change other zoning requirements or approve any building permits beyond the board’s variance approval.

The board then took up minutes from its July meeting.