[Added 6-22-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-7]
For purposes of this article the following words and terms are defined as follows:
PERSON
Every person, firm, association, partnership and corporation.
PLANT CONSTRUCTION
As applied to public utility companies shall mean poles, wires, cables, subsurface conduits, pipes, manholes and appurtenant facilities of such companies installed in a street.
PUBLIC UTILITY COMPANY
As defined in N.J.S.A. 48:2-13.
RIGHT-OF-WAY
Any public street as delineated on the Township of Pequannock Tax Map as well as the boundaries of the right-of-way of any street so delineated.
SHADE TREE COMMISSION
The Shade Tree Commission of the Township of Pequannock.
STREET
A. 
Any public street designated by the governing body to be within the jurisdiction of the Shade Tree Commission.
B. 
Municipal parks and parkways.
C. 
County roads.
D. 
State highways.
TREE
Any tree or any root or branch thereof.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
The regulation, planting, care and control of shade and ornamental trees and shrubbery upon and in the streets, highways, public places and parks and parkways of the Township of Pequannock, except state highways, unless the Department of Transportation shall assent thereto, and except county highways, parks and parkways, unless a county shade tree commission is operative and gives assent thereto, shall be exercised by and under the authority of the Pequannock Township Shade Tree Commission which is hereby created. The Commission shall consist of five members and two alternate members. The members and alternate members shall be appointed by the Mayor and shall be residents of the Township and shall serve without compensation except as hereinafter provided.
The first Commissioners shall be appointed within 60 days after the effective date of this article and their terms of office shall commence upon the date of their appointment and be for the respective periods for the five members of one, two, three, four and five years. The term of each appointee shall be designated in his appointment. All subsequent appointments, except to fill vacancies, shall be for the full term of five years, to take effect on January 1 next succeeding such appointment. In the event that the membership of any Commission is increased, the new members shall be appointed in such manner that the terms shall expire in accordance with the foregoing.
The Commission shall organize within 30 days after the appointment of its total membership for the remainder of the then calendar year and thereafter annually by the election of one of its members as Chair and the appointment of a Secretary who need not be a member. Members of the Commission shall serve without compensation.
Any vacancy occurring by reason of death, resignation or removal of any Commissioner shall be filled for the unexpired term by the Mayor.
The Shade Tree Commission organized under this article shall have power to:
A. 
Control the regulation, planting and care of shade and ornamental trees and shrubbery now located or which may hereafter be planted in any public street and park or parkway, including the planting, trimming, spray, care and protection thereof, and regulate and control the use of the ground surrounding the same, so far as may be necessary for their proper growth, care and protection.
B. 
Move or require the removal of any tree, or part thereof, dangerous to public safety.
C. 
Encourage arboriculture.
D. 
Make recommendations to the governing body concerning shade trees.
A. 
The Commission may plant and care for trees in the public right-of-way subject to funding.
B. 
A property owner who wishes to plant a tree in the public right-of-way shall obtain the approval of the Commission prior to planting the tree.
C. 
Where requested or required by the Shade Tree Commission, planting of new trees in the Township right-of-way or for Township projects shall be installed not closer than 25 feet to any existing or proposed streetlight or street intersection and installed in the front of the lot between the building and the street right-of-way area and in a line with other trees planted on the same side of the same street and shall be installed so as not to interfere with utilities, roadways, school ways or sidewalks. Trees shall be nursery-grown stock not less than 2 1/2 inches in diameter, planted and staked in a manner approved by the Shade Tree Commission. Trees shall be selected from a list maintained by the Director of Public Works, who shall establish the list of trees in consultation with the Shade Tree Commission. Other species may be proposed, in writing, to the Commission for its approval. All trees not surviving after one growing season may be considered for replacement by the Township. If the affected property owner requests the tree be planted outside of the Township right-of-way on his/her property, all trees not surviving after one growing season may be replaced by the property owner but will not be replaced by the Township.
[Added 2-11-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-01]
No statute giving any person or state, county or municipal board, body or official 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 a highway shade tree without the consent of the Shade Tree Commission within whose jurisdiction such tree shall be located. In all cases, such Commission shall reasonably cooperate with such person, board, body or official for the general public good. Nothing contained in this article shall be held to take away or diminish any of the powers or authority of the Township of Pequannock over the trees or shrubbery within its jurisdiction, or to give any other commission or board any power or authority with respect to such trees or shrubbery.
A. 
During the month of December in each year the Shade Tree Commission shall certify to the Township Manager of the Township the estimated sum necessary for the proper conduct of its work during the ensuing fiscal year, which shall include the sums estimated to be expended for such of the following items as it is anticipated expenditure will be made for, namely:
(1) 
Expenses of Commission members in discharging official duties, including expenses incident to attendance at professional meetings;
(2) 
Purchase of trees and shrubbery; and
(3) 
Purchase of necessary equipment and materials and the cost of services for the prudent promotion of the work.
B. 
The governing body of the Township shall annually appropriate such sum as it may deem necessary for said purposes.
No person shall do any of the following acts to any tree in a public right-of-way without the prior permit of the Shade Tree Commission:
A. 
Cut, prune, climb with spikes, break, damage or remove or kill, except that no prior approval of the Commission shall be required for routine maintenance of trees, including pruning of no more than 15% of the tree.
B. 
Cut, disturb or interfere in any way with any root.
C. 
Spray with any chemical.
D. 
Fasten any rope, wire, sign or other device. (Nothing herein shall prevent any governmental agency from affixing in a manner approved by the Shade Tree Commission a public notice upon a tree in connection with administering governmental affairs.)
E. 
Remove or damage any guard or device placed to protect any tree or shrub.
F. 
Conduct razing, removal or renovation of any structure if deemed, by the Commission, to be damaging to neighboring street trees.
G. 
Place or distribute chemicals, including but not limited to salt, deleterious to tree health.
H. 
Maintain a stationary fire or device which vaporizes noxious fumes deleterious to tree health.
I. 
Remove soil, either for trenching or otherwise.
J. 
Construct new sidewalks and/or driveways with any material whatsoever within five feet of a tree.
K. 
Plant any tree or shrub within the designated area under the control of the Commission.
A. 
The Shade Tree Commission may grant to public utility companies, upon receiving written permission from the Commission at least 72 hours prior to the start of work, a blanket permit for tree pruning pursuant to a line clearance program and for the installation of subsurface and aboveground plant construction if there is interference with or endangerment from street trees.
B. 
Public utility companies may, during periods of emergency, and without specific prior permit, undertake emergency tree work to restore electrical power and eliminate hazardous wire conditions and make emergency subsurface repairs. In such event the utility company will notify the Commission of said work within three business days of its beginning.
C. 
Each public utility company shall exercise reasonable diligence in the maintenance of its plant construction so as to avoid damage to trees and shall follow American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or New Jersey Board of Tree Experts standards for tree maintenance, pruning, or removal for line clearance for the trees under the jurisdiction of the Pequannock Township Shade Tree Commission.
Requests for permits required by the provisions of this article for the performance of work should be directed to the Shade Tree Commission. The Commission may utilize such application forms as it deems necessary and may establish an appropriate procedure to process such applications.
A. 
The standards to be used by the Shade Tree Commission to determine whether a tree under its jurisdiction can or cannot be removed or pruned shall include the following criteria:
(1) 
The tree is dead.
(2) 
20% to 30% of the tree crown has declined and it is aesthetically unattractive.
(3) 
The tree has structural deficiencies.
(4) 
The tree has been repeatedly cut back by utility line clearance crews, rendering it unattractive.
(5) 
The presence of the tree in some way compromises public health, safety or general welfare.
B. 
In the above instances, any costs incurred for the tree removal or pruning shall be the responsibility of the Township of Pequannock or a public utility company (or its authorized contractor) and shall be without any monetary or other contribution from the property owner.
C. 
In situations where the Commission issues a permit for the removal of trees in the public right-of-way that are not dead, unattractive, dying, or unsafe, the following policy shall apply:
(1) 
The property owner shall monetarily provide for suitable replacement tree(s) prior to receiving a permit. Species, size and location planting of replacement tree(s) or other Commission use of recovered funds will be determined by the Commission.
(2) 
Upon receiving a permit from the Commission, the property owner may proceed with the tree pruning and removal pursuant to the following conditions:
(a) 
The property owner will be responsible for the full cost of tree, stump and debris removal.
(b) 
The Township of Pequannock is to be held harmless from any damage, injury, or death that could possibly be sustained by the tree work.
(c) 
The tree work must be conducted by a fully insured tree removal contractor.
(d) 
The tree removal contractor shall comply with all New Jersey Board of Tree Experts and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) pruning standards.
(e) 
The tree removal contractor shall notify the Pequannock Police Department prior to the temporary closing of any Township street required for the safe removal of a Township tree.
A. 
The Commission may recommend a fine for violation of a shade tree ordinance in an amount not exceeding $1,500 for each violation, and the Municipal Court of Pequannock shall have jurisdiction over actions for the violation of such ordinances, and its ordinances shall be enforced by like proceedings and process as that provided by law for the enforcement of ordinances of the Township. The officers authorized by law to serve and execute process for the Municipal Court of the Township shall be the officers to serve and execute any process issued out of the Municipal Court for violations of the ordinances of the Commission. A copy of any ordinance certified to under the hand of its Secretary or Chair shall be received in any court of this state as full and legal proof of the existence of the ordinance and that all requirements of law in relation to the ordaining, publishing and making of the same, so as to make it legal and binding, have been complied with, unless the contrary be shown.
B. 
In addition to the penalties authorized by Subsection A of this section, the Commission may require a person who removes or otherwise destroys a tree in violation of a municipal ordinance to pay a replacement assessment to the Township. The replacement assessment shall be the value of the tree as determined by the appraisal of a trained forester or certified tree expert retained by the Commission for that purpose. In lieu of an appraisal, the Commission may adopt a formula and schedule based upon the number of square inches contained in a cross section of the trunk of the tree multiplied by a predetermined value per square inch, not to exceed $27 per square inch. The square inch cross section shall be calculated from the diameter at breast height and, if there is a multiple stem tree, then each trunk shall be measured and an average shall be determined for the tree. For the purposes of this subsection, "diameter at breast height" shall mean the diameter of the tree taken at a point 4.5 feet above ground level. The Commission shall modify the value of the tree based upon its species variety, location and its condition at the time of removal or destruction.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
C. 
Any public utility or cable television company that clears, moves, cuts or destroys any trees, shrubs or plants for the purpose of erecting, installing, moving, removing, altering or maintaining any structures or fixtures necessary for the supply of electric light, heat or power, communication, or cable television services upon any lands in which it has acquired an easement or right-of-way shall not be subject to any penalty imposed by the Commission pursuant to Subsection A or B of this section. This subsection shall not exempt any public utility or cable television company from any penalty or replacement assessment imposed for negligent actions.
All moneys collected, either as fines or penalties, for any violation of a rule or regulation of the Shade Tree Commission enacted by ordinance, or as a charge against real estate, under any provision of this article shall be forthwith paid over to the custodian of the municipal funds.