Old Bridge, NJ Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Old Bridge Township Code § 250-72, the Circulation System article of the Land Development chapter, requires street trees on all developments. Large trees, defined as those with a maturity height of 40 feet or greater, must be spaced at an average of 50 feet on center with a maximum gap of 70 feet; small to medium trees must average 40 feet on center with a maximum gap of 50 feet. Shade trees generally sit outside the road right-of-way on both sides of and parallel to the street, and must be positioned so they do not interfere with utilities, roadways, sidewalks, sight easements, or streetlights.

The planting strip itself must be covered in grass, ground cover, or another suitable material rather than left bare. Developers get some design flexibility: trees may be clustered for a better aesthetic effect, provided the total tree count on the site is not less than the number the standard interval spacing would have produced. Elsewhere in the same chapter, § 250-74 sets a minimum caliper of two to two-and-a-half inches DBH for street trees at planting, and the ordinance credits developers who preserve existing healthy roadside trees toward the planting requirement rather than making them plant new stock on top of mature growth.

The right-of-way itself, under § 250-72A(4)(d), must be wide enough to hold the cartway, curbs, shoulders, sidewalks, graded areas, utilities and the shade trees together, so tree placement is coordinated with the rest of the street cross-section during subdivision and site plan review by the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment.