Monroe Township (Gloucester County), NJ Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Section 31-20 of the Monroe Township Code (Gloucester County) gives the Township the right to cause removal of any dead or diseased trees on private property when they constitute a hazard to life and property or harbor insects or disease that are a potential threat to other trees within the township. The process starts with written notice from the Township Tree Commission to the owner. Removal is the owner's job and the owner's expense, and it must be done within 60 days after the date of service of the notice. If the owner fails to comply, the Township has the authority to remove the tree itself and charge the cost of removal on the owner's property tax notice.

Public trees follow a different track. Section 31-17(B) lets the Tree Commission remove or order removal of any tree or part of a tree that is in an unsafe condition, injurious to sewers, electric power lines, gas lines, waterlines or other public improvements, or affected with an injurious fungus, insect or other pest. Section 31-21 requires stumps of street and park trees to be removed below the surface of the ground.

The code also prints a tree removal and replacement fee schedule in § 74-52, added 4-22-2026 by Ord. No. O:18-2026. For trees that are not street trees, removing 1 to 5 trees costs $0, 6 to 10 trees $100, 11 to 20 trees $250, 21 to 50 trees $500 and 51 to 150 trees $1,500; for 151 or more it is $1,500 plus $250 for each additional 100 trees or part thereof. An identical table applies to street trees, and both sets of fees are contributed to a Township fund for planting and maintenance. Application fees are a $50 non-refundable fee for residential properties and a $100 non-refundable fee for non-residential properties. The staged export holds this fee schedule but not the permit provision it attaches to, so this page quotes only § 31-20.

Development sites have their own limit. Section 175-132(G) of the Land Management chapter does not permit stripping trees from a lot unless grading or construction requirements necessitate removal, in which case the lot is replanted with trees to conform to adjacent lots.