Board clears auto alignment shop at 516 Walnut Street with conditions limiting work and curb parking

The Norristown Zoning Hearing Board voted to allow an auto alignment operation at 516 Walnut Street, approving the applicant’s variance request subject to conditions limiting work to alignments and prohibiting parking on public streets.

Applicant Dario Verdeen told the board he leases the vacant building and plans to operate Monday–Friday and on Saturdays with no welding or heavy fabrication. He said customer parking would be handled on an adjacent lot owned by his family and that the proposed work would use battery‑powered tools and an alignment machine.

Municipal counsel Deanna Williams read the R2 district rules and recommended that, if the board granted relief, it be narrowly tailored to alignments only and exclude heavier auto work. “We would ask that it be for the limited purpose of doing alignments at that property,” she told the board.

Owners’ counsel Joseph DeMaria and building owner Giuseppe Fazio said the structure historically functioned for mechanical work and argued that an alignment shop would be a low‑intensity commercial reuse that would not change neighborhood character; DeMaria warned that denying all mechanical uses would risk devaluing the owner’s property rights.

The board approved the application with conditions: no parking of customer vehicles on public streets, and the use limited to alignments at the address. The motion carried unanimously (4‑0). The approval is conditioned on the applicant complying with any applicable building, fire and licensing requirements.