Not Just Train Stations
by: Dan Keashen

Imagine no morning rush hour, being able to walk to dinner from your home or go shopping, all while being able to cut down on pollution and traffic congestion. These are just a few benefits from the construction of transit-oriented developments, according to officials familiar with the project.

From Alaska to South Jersey, the buzz of this form of Smart Growth is increasing at an astounding pace. The Delaware River Port Authority has undertaken an aggressive plan to implement these developments into several of its South Jersey PATCO high Speedline stations.

Commuters in many regions of the country are increasingly frustrated with congestion and arduous commutes. According to the Brookings Institution Center on Urban Metropolitan Policy, disillusionment with auto-dependent suburbs is on the rise, and housing prices in metropolitan areas have limited the residential choices and home ownership opportunities. To alleviate these problems, the DRPA has instituted several visioning projects to explore the option of mixed-use communities around its light rail train stations and give residents the opportunity to experience urban commuting luxuries while remaining in the suburbs.

Seven PATCO train stations that run through Camden County into Philadelphia are the target areas for Smart Growth development. John Matheussen, chief executive officer of the DRPA, said the plan for the stations is to move away from the expansive blacktop parking lots and change the imprint of the property.

“Our vision is to change the entire footprint of the stations and consolidate space to bring stores or housing that will service the needs of a particular municipality and make those places a desirable destination,” Matheussen said. “This is a win-win plan for everyone participating in the visioning process because it can create ratables and communities for them where there were none before.

“The goal for us is to increase our ridership so we can make more money to subsidize our train system. We think the construction of TODs can be the catalyst to attain those goals.”

The PATCO Speedline is subsidized by DRPA-controlled bridge tolls and operates at a loss every year -– like most public transportations systems.

He said the DRPA plans to build parking structures to continue to service parking needs and even add more spots for commuters, while in turn, the bi-state agency could work in combination with residents and the local governments to build usable structures on the remaining property that will exist after the parking decks are built.

The PATCO stations certainly have enough room for construction on its expansive parking lots. In total, 123 acres of land exists between the Ferry Avenue – in Camden – and Lindenwold stations.

“This project is focused around the community, and we’ve been soliciting as much public participation as possible on these projects,” Matheussen said. “We really want residents’ opinions about what their community wants and does not want.”

Matheussen said the construction of transit-oriented development in some communities, such as Collingswood, Haddonfield and Cherry Hill’s Woodcrest station, is moving forward, in contrast to others.

“Compared with other towns, Collingswood is on top of things now and has embraced the idea,” Matheussen said. “The Haddonfield, Collingswood and Woodcrest stations are moving forward with pretty clear visions of what should go there. We have already been approached by developers that have proposed plans for housing and retail in Haddonfield, and Jim Maley (mayor of Collingswood) already has things moving forward.”

Last year, Collingswood broke ground on the Lumber Yard Condominium project – a collection of 119 high-end condos and townhouses and 19 retail shops along Haddon Avenue – within blocks of the PATCO station and weaved intricately into the downtown.

The new construction is prototypical of transit-oriented development, complete with the addition of new roadways that will give prospective residents an easier walking path to the train station.

Matheussen said the DRPA would only support a project the market could bear and would be built on the consensus of the community. He said sprawling parking lots were a way to accommodate commuters in the 1960s but have become an obsolete use of land over the last 40 years and are counterintuitive to smart growth. He also said by doing the visioning process for the seven stations, the agency will build a “binding master plan” that will be a road map for future development on the sites.

Bill Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said South Jersey is really starting to take command of transit-oriented development.

“The south is really pushing the ball up the court on these issues and taking a real lead in Smart Growth development,” Dressel said. “There has been a lot of progressive thinking done on this issue from mayors like Maley and Haddonfield Mayor Tish Colombi who are making great choices to update infrastructure and work with the DRPA to create new opportunities in what seemed to be built-out communities.”

Dressel said the league supports the transition of Smart Growth for metropolitan suburb communities with little developable space left and the local leaders who embark on it.

“A project like this takes a transparent process and complete vision to communicate to residents. Once a town has that, its local leaders will need a lot of guts to bring it to fruition,” he said. “This kind of project can be a front-end gamble but has the long-term benefits that will affect everyone. In most cases, this is a win-win scenario.” Dressel said if South Jersey communities have the opportunity to invest with a partner such as the DRPA, they should move on it.

“Remember, the DRPA is not going to make a risky investment with public money” he said. “That agency will only invest in winners and a winning project.”

Several local leaders have been embracing the thought of development of the PATCO stations. Ed Borden, a Haddonfield commissioner and Planning Board member who has been a point person in PATCO visioning discussions, said any development being done in its borough would have to be beneficial to residents.

“We need to have a focus on the benefits for the borough and to make sure that any new property taxes or ratables that will be part of a new plan will offset costs that will be born by the borough’s infrastructure and the school system,” Borden said. “This is a very attractive project that can be beneficial to the borough, but this is not a project we’re willing to just break-even on.”

According to Haddonfield, the municipality is paid approximately $30,000 from a payment in lieu of taxes program set up in the early 1970s for the use of its land by the DRPA for the PATCO station site. Payments would see a substantial jump if any new development is done on the valuable downtown property.

Dave Benedetti, director of community development for Cherry Hill, said new development at the Woodcrest station would be a welcomed change, but the township is still reviewing preliminary information provided by the DRPA.

“Right now, we have no revenue coming in from the large expanses of land there, so if additional development, that would make a positive impact on the township, were proposed we would take it into serious consideration,” Benedetti said. “Private development that would provide the township new ratables would be a good starting point, but we are still in internal discussions on the issue.”

While several communities are still in the visioning process for development, Voorhees has seen plans for transit-oriented development at its Ashland station and is not supporting the DRPA.

Committeeman Mario DiNatale said the DRPA laid out a conceptual plan for the Ashland station that featured a four-story building featuring underground parking, retail on the ground floor and apartments on the top three floors.

“That intersection off of Evesham and Burnt Mill Road is a traffic nightmare; there is no way we can execute a plan at the Ashland station that will add more residents without solving our traffic problems there first,” DiNatale said. “I’m all for transit-oriented development and any Smart Growth projects that cut down on greenhouse gases and make the environment a better place, but the project has to make sense for the township.

“How can we support something while making a bad traffic problem worse?” DiNatale said TOD would come with a positive economic impact but would be tainted by an assault on the quality of life for residents living in the area.

“We would do well through new construction permits and new ratables, but all of that has to be balanced with the traffic impact,” he said. “Overall, I’m for a project like this, but it has to be a distinct advantage for us.”

Janine Bauer, a transportation project attorney in Philadelphia, said transit-oriented development is the wave of the future and a quality of life issue for many communities and residents that would be beneficial to a built-out community such as Haddonfield or Collingswood.

“This is development that improves the community by cutting down traffic congestion, pollution and stress on residents,” Bauer said. “These are the kind of communities that people want live in. You don’t want to have a stressful commute everyday, especially if you can get on a reliable transit line like PATCO. Then, with the new TODs, you can dine or shop after work without every getting into a car. These communities are a no-brainer.