Council approves variance to exclude roadway easement from impervious cover at 6407 Virginia Drive

The Victoria City Council voted to approve Resolution 2025-39, granting a variance that excludes impervious cover located within a preexisting roadway easement from the 25% shoreland impervious-cover calculation for 6407 Virginia Drive. Associate City Planner Travis Briley told the council the application was declared complete on May 16 and staff’s 60-day review window ends July 15. Briley said the requested change responds to a city-built right-of-way that runs through the lot and materially reduces the property’s buildable area.

“Tonight is a variance request that has been submitted… for an allowance to go above the 25% impervious cover within the shoreland district,” said Travis Briley, associate city planner, explaining the practical-difficulty standard the council must apply. Briley said the proposed home would be consistent in design and size with surrounding houses and that hard cover within the easement would not be counted in the developer’s impervious-total calculation while the lot’s full square footage would remain on record.

Staff told the council the proposed building footprint yields about 22.2% impervious coverage when the roadway is excluded; the roadway itself is roughly 4,900 square feet (~14.5% of the parcel). Briley said if the easement area were removed from the parcel area for the calculation, the lot’s impervious percentage would appear closer to 28–29%, but excluding the easement keeps the proposed house within the ordinance’s intent for developed portions of the lot.

Council members discussed the history of the easement, noting a 2010 city road connection that created the encumbrance. After discussion, a motion to approve Resolution 2025-39 — which also included a condition reducing the usual $250 permit fee plus $1,000 escrow to a single-dollar fee in this case — was moved, seconded and carried with one recorded opposition. The motion’s approval authorizes staff to apply the variance conditions described in the resolution and to proceed with permitting consistent with other state and city regulations.

Next steps: staff will finalize written findings and the permit paperwork under the conditions adopted by council; the property owner must still meet all other building and code requirements.