Kevin Riordan: Trump empire: Will Pine Hill get a cut?

If her new neighbor Donald Trump ever drops by Haircrafters in Pine Hill, owner Sue Tomasello is ready.

"Oh, my God," she says. "With all his money, he's got one of the worst haircuts."

I've been in her Erial Road shop for less than five minutes and already I'm in love with the lady.

If Tomasello gets to ask Trump, the new owner of the formerly semipublic Pine Hill Golf Club, how much he wants off the top, she also wants to know if the billionaire's brand name will boost this blue-collar Camden County borough.

Will Trump's global cachet spark commercial and residential development elsewhere in Pine Hill (population 10,000), where the abundant hills offer blue-chip views of the Philadelphia skyline?

Mayor Fred Costantino thinks so. "This is a positive," he says. "It's exciting."

Adds longtime resident, businessman, and Haircrafters regular William Minerva, 48: "I don't think it will hurt."

But will the magnificent clubhouse and restaurant at what signs call the "exclusive private club" renamed the Trump National Golf Club-Philadelphia (set to reopen March 5) remain accessible to those of us who aren't wealthy celebrities, wealthy golfers, or both?

The club "will be completely private," says Larry Glick, an executive vice president with the Trump Organization. The membership cost is still being worked out, he adds.

The fact that there will no longer be public access "is a negative," the mayor says. "But is it enough of a negative to counterbalance the positive of what this will do for the borough? No."

Others are not so sure. "Trump won't do anything for me," says Brian Greene, a 37-year-old IT technician. "A private club? I don't like it. We've already got Pine Valley right here."

That would be the Pine Valley Golf Club, widely described as one of the finest private courses anywhere. The place where presidents, potentates, and plutocrats play lies within an unobtrusive fence, a separate municipality (if not universe) from the borough, which nearly surrounds it.

"The limos stop to ask where Pine Valley is," Tomasello observes. "They don't stop to get their hair cut."

Lately the rumors don't stop, either: Trump gave $50 tips to Pine Hill employees; Trump is building a helipad; Trump wants to tear down an apartment complex on Branch Avenue and replace it with a resort hotel.

Glick can't confirm the tips, isn't aware of any helipad plan, but says Trump is definitely not purchasing apartments or other Pine Hill property.

History suggests that the notion of Pine Hill as a destination is far from far-fetched: More than a century ago, the distinctive topography - including the highest point in Camden County - attracted summer residents. Says Costantino, "It's a Norman Rockwell town."

The gazebo in the park on Erial Road notwithstanding, "Rockwell" may be a stretch, even for a town that bills itself as "Home for a Lifetime." But with its tree-lined streets and tidy homes, Pine Hill does have the look and feel of a solid, working-class community that's holding its own through tough times.

A certain columnist born and raised in another solid, working-class community instantly feels at home. Pretentious, it's not.

"Pine Hill gets a bad rap," Greene says. "People think hicks live here."

Tell that to Sam Rizzo, who owns Heart of Gold Jewelry and whose family has operated businesses in Pine Hill for half a century.

"This town is a good town. I wouldn't be here so long if it wasn't," he says from behind the counter. "Trump will be good for the town. I think he'll be good for the whole area."

Adds his wife, Stacey, "Trump will generate a lot of buzz and be a wonderful positive for the town . . . but I think it would be silly if they didn't allow [public access]. A lot of people aren't golfers, but they love to eat out."

At nearby Pine Hill Hardware, which has been in business for 40-plus years, owner Terry Harris and his son, Chris, are enthusiastic about Trump.

Terry says he's sure Trump "will do it right."

Even if, as Chris puts it, "I guess they won't want Joe Schmo" to dine there.