Draft of tree ordinance presented to Montvale Mayor and Council

At the Nov. 26 meeting of the Montvale Mayor and Council, a draft ordinance to preserve borough trees in certain residential zones was presented to the governing body.

Robert Hanrahan, chairman of the borough's Tree Ordinance Committee and its Environmental Commission, presented the draft, which calls for a reduction in clear-cutting of borough trees. Exemptions include tree pruning and cutting down trees that may endanger public safety, according to the draft.

Hanrahan said in the past 10 years, other committees were formed and consisted of borough residents who were either proponents of the ordinance or had reservations about it. The idea, he said, died on a vine after budget constraints held it back from fruition. Now, with a draft ordinance in place, Hanrahan said he hopes "to maintain traction to some point of closure" on the idea.

"If we could eliminate the indiscriminate removal of trees, I would be happy with the effort," Hanrahan said.

Mid-year, Council President Leah LaMonica, who is the committee liaison, approached the council about forming a Shade Tree Committee, and advised them that a team consisting of five borough residents were putting together a draft tree ordinance. At that time, she said the goal was to get something on the books that would replenish trees that were felled.

In the draft ordinance, the committee proposes placing restrictions on the number of trees residents are allowed to cut down in a 12-month period. The draft proposes that residents in single-family residential zones R-10, R-15, and R-40 - which comprise the majority of residential zones, according to Hanrahan - would be permitted to apply for a permit, a $35 cost, to remove three, four and five trees, respectively. For each tree after that, the resident would have the option of paying $500 per tree or replacing it. Funds collected will go to costs associated with tree replacement and planting within the town, according to the proposed ordinance.

Hanrahan said the proposed tree limit schedule was based on what the committee believed to be the maximum number of trees removed from a parcel in each zone per year. This, he said, was determined given the size of the zones, R-10, being a quarter acre or 10,000 square feet in size; R-15, a third of an acre or 15,000 square feet; and R-40, roughly one acre or 40,000 square feet.

Hanrahan said the committee worked with Jeffrey Fette, who is Montvale's construction official and conversed with borough residents to conjure those statistics. Additionally, he said the draft was reviewed by Planning Board member Wolfgang Vogt, who is also environmental commission chair in the borough. The group also looked at other tree ordinances throughout the Garden State, including Oakland, Englewood, Township of River Vale and Upper Saddle River.

"[We] all felt it was a fair number that wouldn't put any undo hardship on a typical homeowner," said Hanrahan.

With the draft, Hanrahan said the committee plans to start with those three zones, as they comprise the majority of residential zones. Other entries, he said, may be added to cover other zones. While the ordinance solely pertains to tree removal from residential properties, he said most of the other commercial zones in the borough are covered by other zoning ordinances. According to the draft ordinance, removal of trees protected by the zoning ordinance, or any other state, local or federal law, is prohibited.

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Draft of tree ordinance presented to Montvale Mayor and Council