PSE&G proposes a substation on a 3.09-acre section of the 21.1-acre lot (shown in yellow) owned by Congregation M'kor Shalom. The red square is approximately the footprint of the substation, facing Evesham Road.
Public Service Electric and Gas Co. has proposed handling increased power demand by building an electrical substation on a heavily wooded lot on Evesham Road in Cherry Hill now owned by Congregation M'kor Shalom. The site borders Evesham and Voorhees.
The substation — to be built to the east of the synagogue near homes on Stoney Brook and Meadow lanes in Evesham — is scheduled to go before the Cherry Hill Zoning Board of Adjustment at its meeting next Thursday. The substation also would be directly across Evesham Road from residences on Peregrine and Fulmar drives in Voorhees.
An approximately 11-acre heavily wooded lot would be subdivided from the existing 21.1-acre lot and sold to PSE&G. The substation would occupy about three acres of the subdivided lot, according to the application.
A total of 591 trees on the subdivided parcel would be removed, according to the plans.
Although utility facilities are a permitted use in the zone, PSE&G needs zoning variances including structure height and fence height as well as preliminary and final site plan and minor subdivision approvals for the Echelon Substation, according to a letter to the zoning board from Timothy Holmes, PSE&G's project manager. The unmanned substation would include switchgear, a control house, two transformers and breakers.
"PSE&G's Marlton Substation currently serves over 22,000 customers, with over 80% of those in Cherry Hill and Evesham Townships, and is significantly overloaded," according to the utility's application. "The completion of the Echelon substation will relieve the system overload, improve local electric reliability, and prevent possible supply interruptions."
The area around the Route 73 and Evesham Road intersection has seen significant commercial and residential development. The Cornerstone at Marlton apartment complex opened earlier this year on Executive Drive in Evesham, near the intersection. The Arbor Terrace at Marlton senior assisted-living complex now is under construction next to Executive Drive and the Evesham Planning Board last week approved a 124-unit, 55-and-older apartment complex on Executive Drive.
PSE&G identified the need for the new substation in 2019 and considered several properties in the area, according to documents filed with the application. The M'kor Shalom site was selected because it has no threatened or endangered species and the substation can be built outside of the flood hazard area, according to the analysis.
"The proposed station will at no time cause vibration, smoke, fumes, dust, odor or other form of air pollution, glare and heat, fire hazards and explosives, chemical and industrial waste, radioactivity, electromagnetic interference or other potentially objectionable condition," according to PSE&G's application. "In addition, no discharge of any wastes of any kind will be discharged to any river, reservoir, pond or lake."
PSE&G's National Park-Marlton 230 kV transmission line already cuts through the property of the proposed substation. The North Branch of the Cooper River and a tributary also are on the site.
An evaluation of expected sound emissions from the proposed substation prepared for PSE&G states that noise from the property would not be significant, according to the analysis by Ostergaard Acoustical Associates of Woodbridge.
"Once completed, analyses show that worst-case sound emissions of the substation are expected to be well below applicable state and county code limits," according to the study. "Additionally, it will be difficult to hear the substation equipment at most off-site vantage points. There is sufficient distance between on-site noise sources and receptors to facilitate low sound emissions. As such, the proposed selection and configuration of substation equipment reflects good acoustical planning, and will not have a negative acoustical impact on the area."
A Township Community Development Department review letter of the proposal says the full site was vacant and wooded before Congregation M' Kor Shalom built its synagogue, which received Township approval in 1986. In 2006, the Township approved the construction of a 9,290-square-foot addition of classrooms and offices to the synagogue.Â
Although the Township in 2018 approved a plan to build a 66-bed assisted-living facility on part of the site, the project was never constructed.
