By JIM WALSH
Courier-Post Staff
COLLINGSWOOD

A drab landscape spreads before the PATCO Hi-Speedline station here - a barren sea of parking lots, deserted sidewalks and, in the distance, the backside of the borough's business district.

It doesn't have to be that way, says John Kane, the borough's director of community development.

With other local and regional officials, he's promoting a plan that one day might tear up those parking lots and replace them with a bustling neighborhood of homes, shops and offices - plus a multistory garage for PATCO commuters.

The concept, called a transit village, is intended to bring new jobs and residents to local communities while boosting ridership for PATCO.

Proponents say transit villages are becoming more popular, particularly in states like New Jersey that want to reduce suburban sprawl.

At the same time, experts say, the development plans can face significant hurdles - including concerns by PATCO executives that rail commuters should continue to enjoy cheap parking.

To Kane, though, the idea just makes sense.

"The highest and best use of any land downtown is certainly not a parking lot," he says, noting any transit village is years away from construction in Camden County.

"Under this plan, when you get off the Hi-Speedline, you're welcomed into the community," says Kane. "This would bring the downtown to the station."

Two communities on the PATCO line - Collingswood and Camden - are seeking state approval to be designated as transit village sites, says Anna Farneski of the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

A conceptual plan calls for six mixed-use buildings rising three to four stories near the Collingswood station. Most of the development would line Billson Avenue, now a bland street that leads to the Haddon Avenue business district two blocks away.

A parking garage, six stories high and one block long, would rise opposite the renovated station. The building, with stores and apartments, "wouldn't look like a parking garage," Kane says.

Camden's plan calls for 15 new buildings near PATCO's Ferry Avenue station.

Among other changes, it would seek to create a link between the station and Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, says Doug Griffith, Camden County's director of planning.

The transit village proposals grew out of a study that considered development around four PATCO stations on a three-mile stretch of Haddon Avenue.

"The idea was to look at the Haddon Avenue corridor and the Hi-Speedline as a Camden County Main Street," Kane says.

Two communities involved in the study, Haddonfield and Haddon Township, have not requested transit village designation.

But Lou Bezich, a Haddonfield consultant working on the Collingswood project, believes that effort could influence its neighbors.

"We'll try to develop a model that ultimately could be replicated at other stations," he says.

So far, eight Garden State communities - including one in South Jersey - have received transit village designation under a state program that offers aid and expertise from 11 agencies.

In Burlington County, Riverside plans a transit village in a 32-acre area near a new light-rail station. The site, called the Golden Triangle, is expected to attract up to 200 townhouses and 36 upscale loft apartments.

Although the light-rail line isn't running yet, the state already has provided more than $400,000 for road improvements and studies in Riverside. It also has funded the purchase of 14 acres of waterfront land near the village, to be used for recreation.

A year-old study by the California Department of Transportation says the villages - also called transit-oriented developments, or TODs - are an "effective strategy" to manage growth and improve quality of life.

The report notes every major transit system surveyed had at least one transit village in the works.

"More so than at any time in recent history, there is heightened interest in planning for and implementing TODs," says the study, which cites greater support for smart growth, among other factors.

But the study also notes problem areas such as scarce financing, particularly for garages and affordable housing.

The local proposals get a mixed response from PATCO, which is part of the Delaware River Port Authority.

"It's something that we're absolutely interested in," says Bob Box, PATCO's general manager, who believes the concept could reverse a recent dip in ridership for the 34-year-old rail line.

But PATCO also insists that future construction must not inconvenience its customers - and it doesn't want steep parking fees.

"Our customers are very sensitive about what it costs to park," Box says. "We offer either free or inexpensive parking. If we tried to charge $7 to park (in a garage), we'd lose every customer we have."

Some PATCO customers share those concerns.

"It sounds good, but are you going to have to pay for parking?" asks Darlene Molineaux, 35, of Collingswood, who commutes to work at a Philadelphia insurance firm.

Commuter Nic Gurganus endorsed the proposal.

"With all the development that's going on in Collingswood, this might do well," said the 35-year-old Haddon Township resident. "I'm certain that the tax office would love it."

The California study notes potential resistance from neighbors upset by the prospect of increased traffic and density. But transit villages also can make areas feel safer because more people are around, says Jeffery P. Ordway, a real estate specialist with the San Francisco Bay Area Transit District. That system has one transit village near completion and six others in the works.

Ordway says transit stops historically served as neighborhood hubs, but engineers overlooked that role when they were designing commuter lines in recent decades.

"We were designed and built just like PATCO was. In the suburban areas, our stations were predominantly surrounded by these huge surface parking lots," Ordway says. "There's been a lot of interest to renovate the areas and connect the stations back to the communities."