Plainfield, NJ Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Section 17:9-49C of the Plainfield Municipal Code sets the planting standard for shade trees along City streets. Subsection A requires shade trees at intervals of forty feet along a right-of-way and a minimum of three and one-half feet inside the sidewalk, on or near the right-of-way line. If that location is not possible, the trees go in the planting strip between the curb and the sidewalk, a minimum of two feet from the curb. Where existing shade trees sit consistently at one location so as to form a line parallel to the street, new trees can continue that pattern.

Subsection B handles sites where planting is physically impractical. If the Shade Tree Commission and the City Engineer determine that conditions within the City right-of-way do not allow safe and effective planting of the required trees, the City Land Use Boards, on their recommendation, can require an applicant to make a cash contribution or obtain permission to plant trees at other locations to the Plainfield Shade Tree Fund, to be used solely for the planting and preservation of trees. The contribution per tree is the estimated cost of purchasing and planting it on the site, and the costs of any experts hired for the determination are borne by the applicant. The section was added by Ordinance MC 2013-14 on December 9, 2013.

Other rules cover trees already in the street. Under § 15:1-9 no person can prune, spray, plant or remove a tree in any street or park, except that the abutting landowner can do so with prior written permission from the Director of Public Works or a designee for the part of the street not used for public travel; each permit states the extent of the authorization and its conditions. Under § 17:9-49D.3, anyone removing a street tree files a Tree Removal Application with the Zoning Officer, and no street tree comes down until municipal officials and the Shade Tree Commission have reviewed and approved the removal.