By RICHARD PEARSALL
Courier-Post Staff
RIVERSIDE

Supporters of the South Jersey Light Rail Line have long said the passenger line is more about economic development than transportation.

So far the new houses, shops and office buildings the line is supposed to inspire in towns along the Delaware River are largely in the minds and blueprints of planners.

What could make them actually spring up along the 34-mile, Camden-to-Trenton route is the Burlington County Bridge Commission.

Last year, the state Legislature gave the commission the power to issue economic development bonds, making it Burlington County's answer to the Delaware River Port Authority.

Like the DRPA, the bridge commission can now use toll revenues from its bridges, the Tacony-Palmyra and Burlington-Bristol, to finance a wide variety of development projects.

One of the first projects to benefit could be the "Golden Triangle," the former industrial tract in Riverside that has long been touted as a showcase for the line's development potential.

Named for the shape of its lot as well as the high hopes for its future, the Golden Triangle now hosts the former Watchcase Factory, with its landmark tower, and some other former industrial buildings.

The hope is to convert the factory to apartments and the rest of the site into shops, offices and houses. But given the state of the factory and the environmental concerns about the tract, it's a daunting task.

So far the county bridge commission has limited itself to packaging bond issues for municipalities and other government agencies. But it is getting ready to finance some projects of its own.

George Nyikita, the commission's executive director, said the commission is working with the county's Office of Economic Development on a strategy to "use whatever powers we have.

"We're looking primarily at the Route 130 corridor," he said, defining that term to include the riverfront towns along the light rail route as well as municipalities on the highway.

He said the commission hopes to have a plan in place within "two to three months."

Nyikita envisions a revolving loan program similar to the $5 million fund the state created for the Route 130 corridor several years ago.

Gary LaVinia, the township administrator in Riverside, said he's optimistic about the prospects for the Golden Triangle.

"We are talking to a number of developers with serious interest in the Triangle," LaVinia said last week. "There's nothing concrete yet, but hopefully there will be sometime in the next two months."

The only tenant of the Watchcase Factory is its owner, the Lippincott engineering firm, which has so far failed to attract investors to renovate the upper floors.

Officials in Delanco, across the Rancocas Creek from Riverside, are enthusiastic about light rail boosting their redevelopment efforts, too. They have been talking with the bridge commission about development of a new business district on what is now vacant land next to the town's light rail station.

Officials in other towns, such as Palmyra and Riverton, have been cooler to the line and the additional housing it could bring.

Mayors up and down the line report that housing prices are rising, but say they can't tell how much of the increase is due to light rail and how much to the generally heated market.

Mark Remsa, Burlington County's chief planner, says its difficult to say with certainty the impact of the light rail line on any of the developments that have sprung up recently. Two recent projects include the arrival of Merck-Medco in Willingboro and developer Tom Whitesell's construction of warehouses in Florence.

"You can't see light rail in isolation," Remsa said. "You have to see it comprehensively. You have to put the pieces of the economic puzzle together."

But, he hastens to add, he's certain that "light rail is playing a role."

Nyikita cautions against overestimating the role of the bridge commission.

"We've had a variety of inquiries on how we can help," he said, "but we're limited as to what we can do."

He noted that the commission must retain enough bonding capacity to ensure its ability to maintain and repair its bridges, the Tacony-Palmyra and Burlington-Bristol.

The bridge commission has revenues of roughly $26.5 million a year and costs of about $19.5 million, Nyikita said.