Freehold Township, NJ Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Chapter 400, Shade Trees, is Part IV of the Township Code, adopted directly by the Shade Tree Commission rather than the Township Committee, and it governs the planting, control, protection and improvement of shade trees upon highways and public places in the Township of Freehold under § 400-1. The chapter defines street broadly to include any Township-accepted highway plus any Township-accepted park, building ground, or parkway assigned to the Commission, and it defines tree to include any tree, woody plant, or shrub, annual or perennial, located in a street.

Under § 400-3, no person may plant, cut, prune, climb with spikes, break, remove, or kill a street tree, disturb its roots, spray it with injurious chemicals, fasten a rope, wire, or sign to it, place building materials that create a hazard near it, spread salt or other chemicals deleterious to it, remove soil within its root zone, or build a new sidewalk, driveway, or retaining wall within 15 feet of it, all without a Commission permit. Public utilities face a parallel permitting regime under § 400-4: they need a Commission permit to trim or remove any street tree or vegetation, though the Commission can issue blanket permits for underground and overhead plant construction, and utilities may act without a permit only for emergency temporary attachments or subsurface repairs.

1 and A300 standards recognized by the New Jersey Board of Tree Experts. A. 40:64-12b for anyone who destroys a tree. Utilities and cable companies working strictly inside their own easements are exempt from that penalty and assessment unless their conduct is negligent, in which case § 400-6 creates a rebuttable presumption of negligence.