Bergen County property owners must maintain vegetation to prevent fire and pest hazards. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service and local municipalities enforce brush clearance, particularly near structures and along roadways.
Although Bergen County is largely suburban, parts of Mahwah, Oakland, and Ramsey border wooded state lands managed under the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (N.J.S.A. 13:9-1 et seq.). Property owners are required to keep brush, dead trees, and combustible vegetation cleared from around dwellings, fences, and propane tanks. Most Bergen County municipalities also enforce nuisance ordinances requiring tall grass to be cut (typically over 10 inches) and dead vegetation removed. The county prosecutor's office and local code enforcement may cite owners whose unmanaged growth threatens neighbors. Defensible space of 30 feet around structures is recommended in higher-risk wooded areas.
Failure to clear brush may result in municipal fines of $100 to $2,000, plus the cost of forced abatement billed against the property as a lien.
Bergen County, NJ
Industrial and commercial noise in Bergen County is enforced under New Jersey's statewide Noise Control Code, N.J.A.C. 7:29, which sets dBA limits at receivi...
Bergen County, NJ
Aircraft noise in Bergen County, including operations at Teterboro Airport (TEB), is regulated exclusively by the Federal Aviation Administration. Neither th...
Bergen County, NJ
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Bergen County, NJ
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Bergen County, NJ
Bergen County does not set countywide residential quiet hours; those rules are set by each municipality under New Jersey's Noise Control Act. The county dire...
Bergen County, NJ
Construction hours are not set at the Bergen County level. Each of the county's 70 municipalities adopts its own permissible construction time window under N...
See how Bergen County's brush clearance rules stack up against other locations.
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