About 10 years ago, township officials in Pennsauken looked at the Delaware River and saw more than a gritty industrial waterfront that allowed hulking ships from remote countries to ply by.

TINA MARKOE/Courier-Post This site on Derousse Ave. is where Pennsauken Twp. hopes to build a boat ramp to allow people access to the river.

They saw more than chainlink fences and little guard shacks with round-the-clock security to keep the public at bay.

Instead, they saw opportunity: luxury real estate on riverfront land that would maximize public access to the river with the Philadelphia skyline as a backdrop.

Township Administrator Kenneth Carruth can't understand why it took so long to view the river as a scenic recreational spot, but he's now ready to make up for lost time.

"I grew up here a few blocks from the river," says the 54-year-old Carruth. "Yet, all my life though I loved to fish I never threw in a line. Instead, we drove 95 miles to West Wildwood because the river was dirty and smelly.

"Today, fish are back and we recognize the river as an important part of our identity, not just a highway for shippers. We have something Cherry Hill and lots of other towns don't have, so we're committed to capitalizing on it. It could be Pennsauken's last hurrah."

Pennsauken's epiphany is a microcosm of the national shift away from prizing industry at all costs to preserving the environment and treasuring dwindling natural resources.

Industry has been very good to Pennsauken, keeping its taxes among the lowest in Camden County and helping the municipality and various non-profits with heavy machinery and infusions of cash when asked, says Hugh O'Connell, deputy township administrator.

The port, as well, has been a good neighbor and the township supports the plan to dredge the Delaware River from 40 to 45 feet, says O'Connell. In fact, Crowley American Transport, an international shipping company that moves weekly barges in and out of Pennsauken-owned Petty's Island, is one of the township's largest revenue generators.

"Any effort to discourage port development would be fatal to the region," says O'Connell.

At the same time, the former mayor believes the river is big enough to accommodate the maritime industry along with prime residential and recreational usage.

Covering 12.3 square miles, Pennsauken is bordered by Camden, Merchantville, Cherry Hill, Cinnaminson, Palmyra, Maple Shade, Collingswood and the Delaware River. It is 94 percent developed, with most of the remaining land on the waterfront.

In recent years, the township has been amassing parcels and refusing to lease them for warehousing or any non-waterborne shipping use. The goal is to convert about 700 acres of untamed and neglected land into a glitzy swath of residential, retail and recreational space, including walkways, bike paths and drop-dead views of Philadelphia's skyscrapers. Is there a timetable for this to happen? Within 5 years or 10 years? No timetable.
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