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Saturday, October 31, 2026 Essex County, Massachusetts · Change town
Government · Zoning Board

Zoning board OKs auto shop, basketball gym

Middleton's Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved special permits for an auto repair shop and a youth basketball academy, while continuing a 200-unit housing hearing to June 25.

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Zoning Board · Meeting of April 23, 2026

Middleton's Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved special permits for an auto repair shop and a youth basketball academy, while continuing a 200-unit housing hearing to June 25. Chairperson Richard Benevento presided as HBS Motors owner Edwin Diaz won approval for a 1,780-square-foot repair shop at 2 Birch Road, calling himself "pretty much a surgeon just looking for an operating room." North Shore Sports Academy also secured a special permit, parking waiver and site plan for a 10,566-square-foot training facility at 177 North Main Street, after board members questioned whether six dedicated spaces plus shared overflow parking would suffice. On the Village Road comprehensive permit, resident Marie Simone told the board "it's not in anybody's backyard, it's in our backyard," citing drainage and blasting concerns on a project projecting peak sewer flows of 86,240 gallons per day.

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Source: the Zoning Board meeting of April 23, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

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