Stebbins Engineering and Manufacturing Co.’s plans to convert the former Watertown Health & Racquet Club, 431 Eastern Blvd., into a storage building for construction equipment was given the green light Tuesday.

The company recently purchased the racquet club and 3 acres from Chester F. and Nancy P. Gray, Watertown, for $700,000.

The couple decided to close the club after business had dropped in recent years.

On Tuesday, the Jefferson County Planning Board approved a zoning change for a portion of the property from Residential B to Light Industrial. Company officials were unaware that the property’s rear portion was zoned residential before purchasing it, said David J. Wise, Stebbins’s manager.

Mr. Wise said that the company does not plan to change the building but will add a driveway that will connect the property to its existing operations on Eastern Boulevard.

The zoning change will also go before the city’s Planning Board on Tuesday.

In other action, the county Planning Board reviewed site plans for a new 14,500-square-foot structure at 18439 Route 11 in the town of Watertown. It will be used to expand the shop at Davidson Collision Repair Center.

Planning Department staff members recommended that the town’s Planning Board make sure the company includes more details for lighting, parking, landscaping and signage before the project goes to the board.

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