The Navasota Board of Adjustment on Dec. 10 approved a zoning variance permitting a 13-foot, 3-inch side building setback from the eastern property line for a single-family home at 908 West Virginia Street, deviating from the R-3 district's 15-foot side setback requirement.

The variance, recorded in the agenda as Order No. 5-2025, was sought by Hermenia and Gonzalo Reyes to accommodate a proposed home on a 53-foot-wide lot in the R-3 (high-density multi-dwelling-unit residential) zoning district. During the public hearing, contractor Jose Alfaro said he was representing the applicants. "My name is Jose Alfaro, and I'm here because Miss Reyes has hired me to build her a single home there on that street," he said.

A staff member explained why the variance was needed: the city's R-3 rules normally require 15-foot side setbacks, but a prior amendment reduces each side setback to 7 feet for lots 50 feet wide or less. Because the lot in question measures 53 feet, the reduced 7-foot setback does not apply, leaving the applicants unable to fit their floor plan without the variance. The staff member summarized the request as asking for "13 [feet], 3 inches on one side just to make their floor plan work and honoring the 15 on the other," so the house would be roughly centered on the lot.

The board voted to approve the variance after taking comments and questions. The transcript records two members, identified as Mr. Cotton and Debbie, as opposed to the motion; the names of the members who voted in favor were not specified in the record. The board did not record any abstentions in the transcript.

The property was described during the reading of the order as located at 908 West Virginia, Grimes County 77868, legally described as S 8000-Roberts, Block 3, Lot 16. The variance alters the application of Article 9 (R-3) of the city's zoning requirements for this single-dwelling construction.

The board closed the public hearing at about 6:07 p.m. and approved the order; the meeting proceeded to other business afterward.