[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the City of
Hoboken 12-5-2001 by Ord. No. DR-19. Amendments noted where applicable.]
PERSON — Every person, firm, association, partnership
and corporation.
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.
A public utility as defined in the Revised Statutes of the
State of New Jersey (N.J.S.A. 48:2-13).
The Shade Tree Commission of the City of Hoboken.
Trees and shrubs.
[Amended 2-18-2004 by Ord. No. DR-132; 11-1-2023 by Ord. No. B-612]
The regulation, planting, care and control of shade and ornamental
trees and shrubbery upon and in the streets, public places, parks
and parkways of the City of Hoboken, except state highways, unless
the Department of Transportation shall assent thereto, and except
county highways, parks and parkways, if a county shade tree commission
is operative and gives assent to, shall be exercised by and be under
the authority of the City of Hoboken Shade Tree Commission, which
is hereby created. The Commission shall consist of seven members,
and shall include the Director of the Department of Environmental
Services[1] or his/her designee and two alternate members. The members
and alternate members shall be appointed by the Mayor, shall be residents
of this municipality and shall serve without compensation except as
hereinafter provided. At least one member should have specific expertise
in urban forestry, landscape architecture, horticulture or arboriculture.
[1]
Editor's Note: Now the Department of Parks, Recreation, and
Public Works.
A.
The first Commissioners shall be appointed within 60 days after the
effective date of this chapter, and their terms of office shall commence
upon the date of their appointment and be for the respective periods:
five members — one, two, three, four, and five years. The terms
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 event that the membership of any Commission is increased, the new
members shall be appointed in such manner that their terms shall expire
in accordance with the foregoing.
B.
The term of each alternate member shall be five years commencing
on January 1 of the year of appointment, provided, however, that in
the event two alternate members are appointed, the initial term of
Alternate No. 1 shall be five years, and the initial term of Alternate
No. 2 shall be four years.
C.
An alternate member may participate in discussions of the proceedings
but may not vote except in the absence or disqualification of a regular
member. A vote shall not be delayed in order that a regular member
may vote instead of an alternate member.
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 Chairman,
and the appointment of a Secretary, who need not be a member. The
salary of the Secretary, who may be compensated even if a member of
the Commission, shall be fixed by the Governing Body of the municipality;
the salary of all other employees shall be fixed by the Commission.
All salaries shall be fixed as nearly as practicable in accordance
with the salary schedule, if any, of the municipality for corresponding
positions.
Any vacancy occurring by reason of the death, resignation or
removal of any Commissioner shall be filled for the unexpired term
by the Mayor or other chief executive of this municipality.
[Amended 11-1-2023 by Ord. No. B-612]
The Shade Tree Commission organized under this chapter shall
have power to:
A.
Exercise full and exclusive control over the regulation, planting
and care of shade and ornamental trees and shrubbery now located,
or which may hereafter be planted, in any public highway, park or
parkway in the City of Hoboken, except such as are excluded pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 40:64-1 et seq., and any subsequent versions thereof,
including the planting, trimming, spraying, care and protection thereof;
B.
Regulate and control the use of the ground surrounding the same,
so far as may be necessary for their proper growth, care and protection;
C.
Move or require the removal of any tree, or part thereof, dangerous
to public safety;
D.
Care for and control such parks and parkways; encourage arboriculture;
make, alter, amend and repeal, in the manner prescribed for the passage,
alteration, amendment and repeal of ordinances by the governing body
of the municipality, any and all ordinances necessary or proper for
carrying out the provisions hereof;
E.
Administer treatment to, or remove, any tree situate upon private
property which is believed to harbor a disease or insects readily
communicable to neighboring healthy trees in the care of the municipality
and enter upon private property for that purpose, with the consent
of the owner thereof, provided the suspected condition is first confirmed
by certificate issued by or on behalf of the Department of Agriculture.
A.
No person shall do any of the following acts to any trees on a street
without a prior permit from the Shade Tree Commission:
(1)
Cut, prune, climb with spikes, break, damage, remove or kill.
(2)
Cut, disturb or interfere in any way with any root.
(3)
Spray with any chemical.
(4)
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.)
(5)
Remove or damage any guard or device placed to protect any tree or
shrub.
(6)
Conduct razing, removal or renovation of any structure if deemed
by the Commission to be damaging to neighboring street trees.
(7)
Place or distribute chemicals, including, but not limited to, salt,
deleterious to tree health.
(8)
Maintain a stationary fire or device, which vaporizes noxious fumes
deleterious to tree health.
(9)
Remove soil, either for trenching or otherwise.
(10)
Construct new sidewalks and/or driveways with any material whatsoever
within five feet of a tree.
(11)
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 a
blanket permit for (i) tree pruning for line clearance and (ii) for
the installation and maintenance of subsurface and aboveground plant
construction if there is interference with or endangerment to street
trees.
B.
Public utility companies may, during periods of emergency, without
specific prior permit (i) install temporary attachments to trees and
(ii) make emergency subsurface repairs.
C.
Each public utility company shall exercise reasonable diligence in
the maintenance of its plant construction so as to avoid damage to
trees under the jurisdiction of the Hoboken Shade Tree Commission.
Requests for permits required by the provisions of this chapter
for the performance of work should be directed to the Shade Tree Commission,
City of Hoboken, Hoboken, New Jersey.
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 chapter shall be held to take away or diminish any
of the powers or authority of the Hudson County Park Commission over
the trees or shrubbery in any Hudson County Park within its jurisdiction,
or to give any other commission or board any power or authority with
respect to such trees or shrubbery.
During the month of December in each year, the Shade Tree Commission
shall certify to the Governing Body of this municipality 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,
A.
Payment of wages and salaries of employees, if any;
B.
Expenses of Commission members in discharging official duties including
expenses incident to attendance at professional meetings;
C.
Purchase and installation of trees and shrubbery; and
D.
Purchase of necessary equipment and materials and the cost of services
for the prudent promotion of the work. The Governing Body of this
municipality shall annually appropriate such sum, as it may deem necessary
for said purposes.
A.
The Commission may prescribe a fine for violation of its ordinances
in an amount not exceeding $1,500 for each violation, and the Municipal
Court of Hoboken 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 this municipality. The officers authorized by law to serve and
execute process for the Municipal Court of this municipality shall
be the officers to serve and execute any process issued out of the
Municipal Court for violations of the ordinances of the Commission.
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A copy of any ordinance of the Commission, certified to under
the hand of its Secretary, or Chairman 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.
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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 municipality. 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 purpose of this section, "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 upon its species variety, location and its condition at the time of removal or destruction.
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 fixture, 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 a Commission pursuant to subsections 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 a Shade Tree Commission enacted
by ordinance, or as a charge against real estate, under any provision
of this chapter shall be forthwith paid over to the custodian of the
municipal funds.
The Shade Tree Commission is hereby authorized and empowered
to promulgate such regulations as may be necessary, pursuant to statute,
and for the proper interpretation, administration and enforcement
of this basic chapter, provided that such ordinances do not conflict
with this chapter and conform to the general standards prescribed
by this chapter.
All regulations adopted by the Shade Tree Commission shall be
filed with the Municipal Clerk for inspection by the public during
regular business hours.
If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase
or word contained in this code shall be declared invalid for any reason
whatsoever, such decision shall not affect the remaining portions
of this Code which shall remain in full force and effect, and to this
end the provisions of this ordinance are hereby declared to be severable.
Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the appropriate Municipal
Body from enforcing any other ordinance of the Code of the City of
Hoboken dealing with property maintenance, which may include maintenance
of trees on private property or public sidewalks adjacent to private
property.
