CARE
Trimming, spraying, watering, mulching and other measures
calculated to protect the public safety or the health and well-being
of the tree or shrubbery.
COMMUNITY FORESTRY MANAGEMENT PLAN
A plan developed by a municipality that outlines the goals
and objectives for managing trees on municipal property with the intent
of minimizing liability to the municipality and maximizing the useful
life of the tree resource. The plan is to be approved by the New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Parks and Forestry,
New Jersey Forest Service.
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY or RIGHT-OF-WAY
The land between the street lines, whether improved or unimproved,
and may comprise pavement, shoulders, gutters, curbs, sidewalks, parking
areas and other areas within the street lines. The street lines are
parallel to each other equidistant from the center of the street,
in conformance with prescribed street widths as displayed on the Borough
Tax Map.
URBAN FOREST
All of the trees and other vegetation in and around our cities
and towns. It includes trees in home landscapes, schoolyards, parks
and greenbelts, utility rights-of-way and cemeteries. It also includes
trees along streets and streams and anywhere else that trees can grow
in and around a community.
The first Shade Tree Committee members were appointed by the
Borough Council within 60 days after December 2, 1985, for the respective
periods of one, two and three years. All appointments, except to fill
vacancies, made on or after January 1, 2017, shall be for the full
term of three years.
The Shade Tree Committee shall organize annually by the election
of one of its members as Chair, and the appointment of a Secretary
who need not be a member.
Any vacancies occurring by reason of the death, resignation
or removal of any Shade Tree Committee member shall be filled for
the unexpired term by the Borough Council.
The Shade Tree Committee in its advisory capacity may:
A. Recommend to Borough Council legislation and other appropriate action
governing the regulation, care and removal of trees and shrubbery
upon and in the public right-of-way and public property of the Borough,
and use of the ground surrounding them, so far as may be necessary
for their growth, care and protection. All such recommendations shall
be with notice to the Borough's Superintendent of Public Works and
subject to such conditions as the Committee deems appropriate consistent
with the purposes of this chapter, after weighing the following considerations:
(1) The safety of the public;
(2) The condition or health of the tree;
(3) The appropriateness of the location of the tree or shrub;
(4) The significance of the tree for preservation of the urban forest;
(5) Opportunities for planting replacement trees or shrubbery conforming
with Shade Tree Committee specifications;
(6) The immediacy of the need for action;
(7) The availability of public or private financing for the action contemplated;
and
(8) Other factors favoring removal or nonremoval of the tree in the best
interests of the Borough and its residents.
B. Recommend to Borough Council with notice to the Superintendent of
Public Works legislation and other appropriate action to enhance and
protect the public property of the Borough and the public right-of-way,
including:
[Amended 6-3-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-6]
(1) The planting of trees and shrubbery upon or in the public right-of-way
or public property; and
(2) The care or removal of roots, limbs, branches and other growth extending
from trees and shrubbery on private property into or over public property
or the public right-of-way.
C. Recommend to Borough Council, with notice to the Borough's Superintendent
of Public Works, the care, treatment or removal of any tree on private
property which is believed to harbor a disease or insect harmful to
trees or other vegetation readily communicable to neighboring healthy
trees or other vegetation in the care of the municipality, and recommend
to Borough Council entry upon the private property for that purpose,
with the consent of the owner thereof, provided that the suspected
condition is first confirmed by a certificate issued by or on behalf
of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.
D. Advise the Borough in the crafting and implementation of its Community
Forestry Management Plan.
[Amended 6-3-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-6]
E. Encourage private property owners to plant, care for and maintain
shade trees, ornamental trees and ornamental shrubs on their property
as part of the urban forest.
No statute giving any person or state, county or municipal board, body or official the power or authority to lay any sidewalk along or to open, construct, curb or pave any street, or to do any similar act, shall be construed to permit or authorize any interference with or injury to trees and shrubbery upon and in the public right-of-way and public property of the Borough without the consent of the Borough Council. In all cases, the Borough Council shall reasonably cooperate with such person, board, body or official for the general public good. If such action causes injury to or demise of the tree, the person or state, county or municipal board, body or official responsible shall pay for a replacement tree meeting the specifications of the Shade Tree Committee pursuant to §
177-6 of the Borough Code.
The Shade Tree Committee shall adopt rules or procedures, which
shall provide for a regular public meeting each month.