Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Edison's tree ordinance covers any tree of 4 inches DBH or greater, but single-family lots get a specific exemption. If you own a single-family lot and you are not building a new house or a substantial addition, you do not need a tree removal permit, as long as you do not take out more than 20 percent of the existing tree cover. Cross either of those lines and a permit from the Township Engineer is required.
Size threshold
"TREE means any deciduous or coniferous species which reaches a typical mature height of ten (10) feet or more. An individual tree for the purpose of this chapter has a D.B.H. of four (4) inches or greater."
What's protected in Edison
- Specimen trees, meaning any tree with a D.B.H. of 16 inches or greater
- Trees in a zoning buffer area, a designated tree save area, or trees that a prior approved landscape plan required for screening or buffering
- Trees five inches DBH or more in any public right-of-way, street, road or highway (separate written permission from the Township Engineer)
How to apply in Edison
- 1
Confirm whether the single-family lot exemption applies to you. It does not apply if the removal is tied to construction of a new single-family home or an addition that increases the home by more than 50 percent, and it never allows removal of more than 20 percent of existing tree cover.
- 2
If you need a permit and no board approval is involved, submit the application in duplicate to the administrative officer with the street address, block and lot, owner and occupant names, tract size, and a list of trees by species with a D.B.H. greater than 4 inches to be removed.
- 3
Include the name of the company doing the removal, the reason for removal, a plot plan at a scale between 1 inch equals 1 foot and 1 inch equals 100 feet showing all trees and the trees to be removed, and a replacement plan showing where replacements go.
- 4
State whether the property has been the subject of a Planning Board or Zoning Board application, and if so attach the resolution and plans.
- 5
Pay the $25 fee. The administrative officer has 45 days to deem the application complete and another 45 days to approve or deny.
- 6
Display the permit at the site, or keep it available for inspection there. It is valid for one year from issuance.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- $25 for an application under § 25-8.1, meaning a removal that does not need Planning Board or Zoning Board approval. $200 where the applicant is seeking a tree removal permit and replacement plan approval under § 25-8.2, in addition to all other land use fees.
- Ordinance
- Code of the Township of Edison, Chapter 25, Trees (1999 Code § 12.16 et seq.; Ord. No. O.1659-2008; exemptions amended 12-8-2025 by Ord. No. O.2266-2025)
Worth knowing
- The single-family lot exemption at § 25-6.1e reads: "Any tree on a single-family lot as previously defined, provided, however, that this exemption shall not apply to any tree removal in conjunction with the construction of a new single home or a substantial addition (more than fifty (50%) percent increase in size) to an existing single-family home; it being understood, however, that under no circumstances may more than twenty (20%) percent of the existing tree cover be removed without compliance with the terms of this chapter."
- Other exemptions include commercial nurseries, fruit orchards, garden centers and Christmas tree plantations in current operation; silviculture under a NJ Bureau of Forestry plan on file; utility right-of-way work; dead, dying, diseased or severely damaged trees and trees whose angle of growth makes them a hazard; approved game management practices; and trees removed under an NJDEP or EPA approved cleanup or NJDEP approved woodlands management plan.
- Replacement for trees 4 to under 16 inches DBH is percentage-based on how much of the site is cleared. For trees 16 inches DBH or greater the schedule runs from 3 replacement trees up to 15, by size. Replacement trees have a minimum 2.5 inch caliper.
- If replacement trees cannot fit on site, contribution in lieu of planting is $300 per tree for a single-family lot that is not part of a larger development plan, and $500 per tree for all other applicants.
- There is no clear-cutting on slopes of 10 percent or greater, and no clear-cutting within major or minor subdivisions.
What we could not confirm
We would rather tell you what we don't know than guess. Call the office below to confirm these before you cut.
- — The penalty amount. Section 25-16 points to the general penalty in Chapter I, Section 1-5, which we did not read. Each tree cut, damaged or destroyed is a separate and distinct violation, and the township may also sue for injunctive relief and require replacement of illegally removed trees.
- — Whether Edison has separately adopted an NJDEP model tree removal and replacement ordinance under its MS4 stormwater permit.