Middleton Planning Board continues Beachbrook Farm hearing, pursues road compliance covenant

Planning Board · Meeting of July 8, 2026

Middleton Planning Board moves to secure a road-completion covenant at Beachbrook Farm rather than rescind the subdivision's 2018 approval. Planning Director Anna Bury Carmer told the board at the July 8 meeting that the developer had agreed in principle, as of that afternoon, to execute a recorded covenant barring occupancy permits and sales on remaining lots until the subdivision's unfinished roadway and drainage infrastructure is completed — a result she said would give the town "the tool and the leverage that we need." The board voted unanimously to continue the public hearing to August 12 to allow the covenant to be drafted and signed, with one member requesting that the original 2018 approval documents be included in the next packet for comparison. The board also endorsed an Approval Not Required plan splitting 147 Forest Street into two lots, with members privately skeptical the new 138,000-square-foot lot would prove buildable given a 400-foot reservoir setback that leaves only a small triangular area available for a septic system.

On a 40B apartment proposal at 35 Village Road, board members flagged the absence of sidewalk connections to Village Road, construction-phase impacts on Locust Street neighbors, roof-deck noise, and a question about whether fire-apparatus turning calculations reflect Middleton's new, not-yet-arrived ladder truck rather than Danvers' dimensions.

In the full story:

• Background and stakes
• The question before the body
• Substantive content
• The deliberation
• Procedural steps and outcome
• Implications and what is next
• The complete report — 2,497 words

Source: the Planning Board meeting of July 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.