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Zoning board approves Small Wonders daycare at 516 E. Marshall with access condition
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Summary
The Norristown Zoning Hearing Board granted a variance allowing Small Wonders Academy of Learning to operate a licensed daycare at 516 E. Marshall Street, approving a plan for up to 60 children and requiring interior access to upstairs apartments be closed before operation. Vote: 3–0.
The Norristown Zoning Hearing Board on Feb. 24 approved a variance allowing Small Wonders Academy of Learning to operate a licensed daycare at 516 East Marshall Street.
Mary Darden, managing member of Small Wonders, told the board the facility’s main floor is about 3,000 square feet, with roughly five large rooms, two bathrooms and parking on-site. She said the program would serve children 18 months to 6 years, operate about 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and employ six staff members including herself. “We will be providing services for up to 60 children,” Darden said in testimony.
Cameron Shahzad, the property’s managing member and owner representative, told the board the building has an existing parking lot with about 20 spaces and that he intends to enter a lease with Small Wonders. Shahzad said he had done due diligence on the business and the building and described the layout and proposed renovations.
During the hearing, board members probed safety and logistics, asking whether interior access between the daycare and the two second-floor apartments would be closed. Shahzad and Darden said the staircase and interior access would be sealed off and that the apartments would remain independent from the daycare area.
Several neighborhood residents and local leaders urged the board to approve the application. Gregory Scott, a neighbor, said Norristown faces a shortage of high-quality early-childhood seats and called Small Wonders “a proven operator” with a 28-year track record. Councilwoman Madera Robinson, Tiffany Todd and others described the facility’s long-standing community role and urged the board to approve the expansion.
Municipal staff confirmed the property sits in an R-2 residential district and has historically been mixed-use; the municipality offered no formal objection to the amended plan as presented at the hearing.
After receiving testimony and exhibits, the board voted 3–0 to approve the variance, with a condition that all interior access from the daycare to the above apartments be closed prior to operation and that all other permitting requirements be met. The applicants were directed to coordinate required permits and to follow municipal code enforcement steps before opening.
The board’s decision allows Small Wonders to relocate its licensed operation to 516 E. Marshall, where proponents say it will relieve wait lists and expand local early-childhood capacity.
