New Fair Lawn rule on removing trees has some residents riled up. Here's what's changing

Fair Lawn is tackling the loss of trees in town and confusing tree removal rules with a set of new guidelines aimed at keeping the borough green.

The new rules set requirements for removing and replacing trees on residential property. They've been in the works for a year, but some people showed up for a final vote on Tuesday and complained that the ordinance was unclear, while others objected to some of the replacement requirements.

Mayor Gail Rottenstrich said the pros and cons of the "thoroughly thought-out" ordinance were debated for “well over a year."

“If we find out it’s not working in every way we would like it to, it can be amended after time, but I think it’s really well drafted,” she said.

Fair Lawn has been losing its trees

Rottenstrich was sworn in last month and said restoring the borough's tree canopy was a chief goal.

“Ideally, you want at least a 25% tree canopy, and right now we don’t have any area of Fair Lawn that has that,” the Democrat said at the time. “There are some areas that have as low as 10% or 11%. We’re focusing on encouraging planting trees in those areas first.”

The ordinance, approved by the mayor and council on its final reading Tuesday, includes requirements for five categories of tree, based on the diameter of the healthy tree trunk that would come down. There is a permit fee of $50 per tree removed.

What the new tree ordinance requires

The number of trees to be replanted varies with the size of the specimen removed, ranging from one to four new trees. The ordinance says replacement trees should be up to 2 to 2.5 inches in diameter and must be planted within a year.

If some or all of the replacements can't be planted on the affected property, a resident can plant them on other land they own in the borough or pay a fee of $250 per tree removed. The money would go into the Fair Lawn Tree Trust.

Resident Pamela Coles detailed the loss of trees throughout the borough due to development over the years and said the borough could have done better than simply detailing fines and the type of replacement trees.

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“There is no pro-growth, no-pro anything, no-pro tree,” Coles said. “There’s just ‘you’re going to be fined if you take down a tree,’ and it’s a detriment. It’s actually contradicting what you want to encourage inside of the growth of trees."

How many new trees for each one cut down?

Another resident, Robert Schaefer, felt that a requirement to plant up to four replacements for certain types of downed trees was “overreaching."

But requiring that many new plantings would be a "very rare circumstance," said Deputy Mayor Josh Reinitz.

The ordinance requires four new trees only when a trunk of 33 inches or more in diameter is cut down, he said.

Resident Trevor Ferrigno wished to see more additions to the ordinance, such as identifying the time frame of when the government reviews and approves permit applications and defining the appeal process.

Which trees are covered?

Harold Seneker, a resident who said he is a natural-born “tree hugger,” worried that the rules would cover even the maple seedlings on his property. But officials said the ordinance regulates only trees that are 6 inches or thicker.

Andrea Piazza, a member of the borough’s Green Team and Shade Tree Advisory Committee who helped write the ordinance, spoke at public comment amid the concerns.

She said the borough’s previous tree ordinance was “unclear and confusing” and the new ordinance aims to clarify guidelines. The number of required replacement trees is consistent with a state tree replacement model ordinance, Piazza said.

'Hazard trees' are exempted

Hazard trees, such as those that affect public health or lift sidewalks, have no replacement requirement. The previous ordinance regulated trees with a 4-inch diameter, which the ordinance writers felt was “overly restrictive,” so they increased it to 6 inches.

“What we are trying to do is replace healthy trees with new trees, so if there’s a healthy tree that needs to come down, you replace it so that we don’t have a net loss,” Piazza said.

Stephanie Noda is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: noda@northjersey.com

Twitter: @snoda11

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Fair Lawn NJ rule on cutting trees has residents riled up