Elizabeth, NJ Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

60 (Trees), bars cutting, breaking, climbing or injuring any tree or portion of a tree growing in a public highway, city park or parking strip, and extends the same ban to any protective device installed around a tree, without written authorization from the department of public works. The chapter treats trimming as a two-step process: first, anyone with a lawful reason to prune a street tree applies to the department; second, the department decides, in its judgment, whether the cutting is necessary and whether the applicant's proposed method and workmanship are acceptable before it issues a written permit, and any work performed must follow that permit's terms exactly.

060). Together these sections put the department of public works in sole control of tree work anywhere in the public right-of-way, including trees a resident might see as growing in front of their own home, since the trees themselves belong to the public highway, not the adjoining private lot. There is no fee schedule listed in the chapter itself for a routine pruning permit, and the ordinance dates to the city's original codification of prior code Section 102-1.