Woodbridge, NJ Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

2 flatly bars cutting, pruning, climbing with spikes, breaking, damaging, removing or killing any tree on a street without a prior Township permit, and separately bars disturbing roots, spraying chemicals, or removing soil near one. 5, with appeals going to the Municipal Council. Removal permits are granted only where the tree sits within the clear sight angle of an intersection or driveway between two and six vertical feet above street grade, where it is an off-list species being swapped for an approved one, where it endangers other trees through infection or overcrowding, where it threatens public health or safety, where it causes more than $50 a year in damage to sewers, drainage, streets, curbs, gutters, walkways or a building with no fix but removal, or where it blocks a solar or wind energy system.

Any tree taken down under these provisions must be replaced with an approved species or an alternate planting under the Township's Comprehensive Plan and Program for Public Way Arboriculture; a resident who does not want to replant instead owes a $150 waiver fee, and applicants generally must post that $150 as a deposit with their removal application, refundable once a replacement tree is planted and inspected, unless the Township finds the removal urgent for public safety or the resident shows the deposit is a genuine hardship.