The yellow border shows the full PSE&G property, totaling 58 acres. Church Road is to the north and Sharp Road to the east. The gray area is the existing Cox's Corner Switching Station.
Public Service Electric and Gas Company plans to add a second electrical substation to the 58 acres it owns in Evesham, requiring the clearing of 242 live trees.
The property, on Sharp Road south of Church Road, already houses the Cox's Corner Switching Station and the new station will be to the east, closer to Sharp Road. Trees will be clear cut on an interior part of the property, with the trees facing Sharp Road remaining, according to PSE&G's plans.
Members of the Township Planning Board unanimously approved the plans for 225 Sharp Road at the board's August 21 meeting. The switching station is a permitted use for the property and PSE&G was seeking board approval for the preliminary and final major site plans.
To address South Jersey growth, and resulting demand for electricity, PSE&G has added stations. A new substation was built on Evesham Road in Cherry Hill on wooded property formerly owned by a synagogue and 591 trees were removed.
Evesham resident Dee Frawley of Grace Drive objected at the Evesham Planning Board meeting to the utility cutting down the mature trees, noting that some were 100 feet in height.
While acknowledging that power stations are important, Frawley said any replacement trees would take 25 to 45 years to reach the height of some of the trees that will be cleared.
The new substation would be near Sharp Road, which is on the right in this plan. The brown X's mark the trees to be removed. The green X's are existing trees that will remain.
Frawley said she also feared for the wildlife on the land, which she said includes the red fox, red-tailed hawk, wood turtles, red-headed woodpeckers, grasshopper sparrows as well as deer and wild turkeys.
The other resident who spoke in opposition to the project was Tammy McCoy, whose mother lives at 241 Sharp Road, next to a planned entrance driveway for the new station.
"We obviously have obvious concerns," she told the board. She estimated her family's property value will plunge to $150,000 from $400,000 because of the development.Â
A PSE&G representative at the board meeting said the utility would meet with McCoy to work with her to plant more trees near the driveway to screen her property.
Wetlands on the property will be undisturbed, according to the PSE&G representatives.
Trees to be removed are:
- Four trees of 33 inches or greater diameterÂ
- 10 trees of 23 to 32.99 inches
- 65 trees of 13 to 22.99 inches
- 163 trees of 2.5 to 12.99 inches
