WOOLWICH TWP. – The Woolwich Township Committee approved additions to their Tree code at their Sept. 16 meeting.
Added to the ordinance are requirements for tree removal and replacement. Landowners and applicants before the planning and/or zoning boards that propose tree clearing may request approval from the township to compensate their removals by planting trees on township land.
This is to regulate and control indiscriminate and excess cutting of trees.
The ordinance spells out clearance over roadways and streets. Landowners are financially responsible for the maintenance of the trees.
The township can also order any hazardous trees that overhangs any property line to be removed with 10 days of notice, at the expense of the property owner.
Exemptions: any tree less than five inches in diameter, not a street tree; any tree planted for commercial purposes; woodland management; municipal or state decommissioning plan; environmental cleanup by government agencies; trees in utility right of way; residents who remove less than four trees per acre.
Fines range up to $5,000.
By Karen E. Viereck, Editor/Publisher
