[Adopted 3-27-1979 by Ord. No. 3-79 (Ch.
15, Art. IV, of the 1985 Code)]
The regulation, planting, care and control of
shade trees and shrubbery upon and in the streets, highways, public
places, parks and parkways of the Village of Ridgefield Park, except
state highways, unless the State Highway Department 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 Shade Tree Commission of the Village
of Ridgefield Park, which is hereby created by the Board of Commissioners,
the members of said Shade Tree Commission to be residents of the municipality
and to serve without compensation, except as hereinafter provided.
The first Commissioners shall be appointed within
15 days after the effective date of this article, and their terms
shall commence upon the day of their appointment and shall be for
the respective periods stated in the appointments. Five members shall
be appointed for a term of one year, two years, three years, four
years and five years, respectively, commencing January 1, 1979. The
initial term of each appointee shall be designated in his or her 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
each appointment. In the event that 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 15 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 governing body of the Village of Ridgefield
Park shall have the right to determine the salary of the Secretary.
Any vacancy occurring by reason of the death,
resignation or removal of any Commissioner shall be filled for the
unexpired term by the Board of Commissioners of the municipality.
The Shade Tree Commission organized under this
article shall have the following powers and responsibilities:
A.
Exercise regulation of the planting of shade and ornamental trees and shrubbery now located or which may hereafter be planted in any public highway, park or parkway, except such as are excluded pursuant to § 23-14, including 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.[1]
C.
Remove or require the removal of any tree or part
thereof dangerous to public safety at the homeowner's expense.
D.
Administer or require to be administered treatment
to or require the removal of any tree situated upon private property
which is believed to harbor a disease or insects readily communicable
to neighboring healthy trees located on property owned by the municipality
or the school board of the municipality and, with the consent of the
owner thereof, enter upon private property for the purpose of determining
said condition, provided the suspected condition is first confirmed
by a certificate issued by or on behalf of the Department of Agriculture
of the State of New Jersey. The owner shall arrange, at his own expense,
to remove the tree, upon notification by the appropriate officials
of the Village of Ridgefield Park.[2]
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, said Commission shall reasonably cooperate
with such person, board, body or official for the general public good.
Nothing in this article contained shall be held to take away or diminish
any of the powers or authority of any county park commission over
the trees or shrubbery in any county park or parkway within its jurisdiction
or to give any other commission or board any power or authority with
respect to such trees or shrubbery.
[Amended 4-8-1980 by Ord. No. 5-80]
A.
Nothing in this article shall be deemed to impose
any liability upon the Village of Ridgefield Park or upon any of its
officers or employees, nor to relieve the owners and occupants of
any private property from the duty to keep trees and shrubs upon private
property or under his control in a safe condition.
B.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to make
the Commission or any member thereof responsible for the death or
injury of any person or for any injury to any property, highway, tree
or shrub.
[Amended 3-26-1985 by Ord. No. 6-85]
A.
The Commission may prescribe a fine for violation
of its rules and regulations in an amount not exceeding $250 for each
violation, and the Municipal Court of the Village of Ridgefield Park
shall have jurisdiction in actions for violations of such rules and
regulations, and they shall be enforced by like proceedings and process
as that provided by law for the enforcement of ordinances of the municipality.
The officers of the law of the Village of Ridgefield Park shall serve
and execute any process for violation of the rules and regulations
of the Commission.
B.
A copy of any rule or regulation of the Commission,
certified to under the hand of its Secretary or Chairperson, shall
be received in any court of this state as full and legal proof of
the existence of the rule or regulation and that all requirements
of law in relation to the publishing and making of the same, so as
to make it legal and binding, have been complied with, unless the
contrary be shown.
All moneys collected, either as fines or penalties,
for any violation of a rule or regulation of a Shade Tree Commission
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.
During the month of December each year, the
Commission shall render to the governing body of the Village of Ridgefield
Park an annual report of the work it has accomplished in the prior
year and the work that it proposes to undertake in the forthcoming
calendar year. Such report shall be rendered by December 15 and may
include such reasonable amounts as the Shade Tree Commission believes
will be necessary to expend in the forthcoming calendar year. In no
event shall the governing body of the Village of Ridgefield Park be
bound to appropriate that amount, but it shall appropriate such sums
as it deems necessary for such purposes.
The Commission shall give reasonable notice
of not less than 10 days regarding the removal of a tree or part of
a tree dangerous to public safety, unless public safety requires immediate
removal, in which case no notice shall be necessary.
No person in possession of property, as owner
or tenant, abutting upon a street shall plant or permit the planting
of any bush, vine, hedge, shrub, tree or other plant life without
first having secured the approval of the Shade Tree Commission as
to the type of tree, the location and the manner of planting. All
planting shall agree with guidelines prescribed by the Commission.
The Shade Tree Commission is hereby authorized
and empowered to promulgate such rules and regulations, to be approved
by the Board of Commissioners of the Village of Ridgefield Park, as
may be necessary pursuant to statute and for the proper interpretation
of this basic article, its administration and enforcement, provided
that such rules and regulations do not conflict with this article
and conform to the general standards prescribed by this article.
