Irvington, NJ Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Article II of Chapter 610, Shade Trees on Streets, controls what residents may plant in the public right-of-way as well as what they may remove. Section 610-4 makes it unlawful to plant or set out a shade tree in any part of a public highway without first getting a written permit from the Division of Public Property, and the permit itself must set out the conditions under which the tree may be planted; the planter must comply with those conditions in every respect. Section 610-6 then protects the planted tree's root zone: no one may place or maintain stone, cement or other paving material around a street tree's base without a separate written permit from the Division, and unless a permit says otherwise, at least nine square feet of open ground must be kept around the trunk of a tree three inches in diameter, increasing by two square feet of open ground for every additional three inches of trunk diameter.

Section 610-7 works alongside these rules to bar attaching wires, signs or other devices to a street tree or to its protective stake or guard without a Division permit, and § 610-9 requires anyone stringing a wire across a public highway to fasten it so it cannot touch a tree. As with tree removal, Chapter 610 has no dedicated penalty section, so a violation of the planting or open-ground rules is punished under the general Revised Code penalty at § 1-17A, up to $2,000 or 90 days' imprisonment, or both, with continuing violations counted day by day.