Teaneck OKs Permit to Have Public Trees Chopped

The Township Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance giving residents the ability to hire their own certified specialists to remove hazardous or unhealthy public trees.

Residents would first have to get a $100 permit for the tree work and only remove or trim a tree in specific situations with approval from the town’s tree supervisor. Teaneck’s old tree regulation had given the town’s shade tree supervisor sole responsibility for deciding if a public tree or tree in the public right of way should be removed or pruned, and only the township was allowed to handle the work.

Homeowners complained that rule led to delays in having problem trees removed and left them frustrated with the town’s handling of complaints.

“Residents felt helpless,” said Councilman Elie Y. Katz. “This is giving a little more power to the residents.”

Any decisions about work on public trees would still need town approval and Katz said officials would be monitoring the issue.

“We’re not going to wake up tomorrow morning and see Teaneck without all these beautiful trees,” he said.  

Art Vatsky, a township resident, questioned why homeowners should be footing the bill for public work the township was expected to handle.

“What you’re saying is that Teaneck is ratcheting down from being a full service town,” Vatsky told the council.

Another resident, Howard Rose, asked the intent of the ordinance and said it seemed the council was pushing tree removal costs on residents.

Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin said Teaneck’s public works department was working with limited resources. The new ordinance wouldn’t mean Teaneck was no longer maintaining its trees, officials said.

Hameeduddin said the council had been discussing the change since before Hurricane Sandy downed scores of trees across Teaneck.

“We’re giving relief to our homeowners who feel that coming in a few months there might be another storm,” Hameeduddin said.

The council tabled an April vote on the change after the town’s Shade Tree Advisory Board raised concerns and asked for more time to review the ordinance. The ordinance passed Tuesday reflected modifications to some language, but board members asked again that the measure be put on hold.

According to the ordinance, the town council "… finds that it would be in the best interests of the citizens…to permit its residents to hire, at their own cost and expense, tree professionals, to cut and remove certain species of trees and to prune and trim public trees upon public lands or within public rights-of-way after first obtaining a permit from the supervisor."

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