Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Jersey City does not require a permit to remove a tree on your own property. The city's adopted Forestry Standards say so in plain language, and the tree ordinance regulates only "City trees," a term the code defines to exclude trees on private property. Street trees are a different matter, and only the city can authorize work on those.
What's protected in Jersey City
- City trees, meaning any self-supporting woody perennial with a trunk diameter of at least 2 inches measured 6 inches above ground that normally reaches 10 feet at maturity, planted in a public right-of-way, in a City park, or on City-owned property
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Penalties
- Violations of Chapter 321 carry a penalty of $100 to $2,000 as determined by the Jersey City Municipal Court. The city may also pursue remedies in Hudson County Superior Court for trees removed, destroyed or damaged in violation of the chapter.
- Ordinance
- Jersey City Municipal Code Chapter 321, Trees (added by Ord. No. 17-169, amended 1-13-2021 by Ord. No. 20-111), plus the Jersey City Forestry Standards adopted by reference at § 321-10
Worth knowing
- The Forestry Standards state: "No City permits are required to plant or remove a tree on your property... This document does not apply to planting or removing a tree on private property."
- Private landscaping, including tree planting, should still follow the landscaping requirements in Section 345-66 of the City Code.
- A permit from the Division of Parks and Forestry is required for anything done to a City tree, including removal, pruning, spraying, root disturbance, changing the tree bed, or conducting construction or sidewalk work within 15 feet of it. A separate permit is required for each tree.
- An adjoining owner can be granted a permit to remove an abutting City tree only if it poses a danger that cannot be remedied except by removal, or if removal is required for development of the property or improvement of the sidewalk. In the development case the owner must pay the city the assessed value of the tree.
- Whoever you hire must comply with the New Jersey Tree Specialists and Tree Care Operators Licensing Act.
- If a neighbor's tree is the problem, the city refers residents to Housing Code Enforcement at 201-547-3824. DPW dispatch is 201-547-4400.
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.
- — Whether § 321-6.1, which requires 10 days' written notice to owners within 200 feet before "the removal of any two (2) or more trees by a property owner," reaches trees on private property. The section sits under the City-tree removal heading and the Forestry Standards say private removals need no city involvement, so the two readings conflict. Call the Division of Forestry before removing two or more trees at once.
- — Whether Jersey City has separately adopted an NJDEP model tree removal and replacement ordinance under its MS4 stormwater permit. The city's Municode-hosted code blocks automated access, so we could not check for a chapter beyond 321.
- — The permit fee schedule, which Chapter 321 places in Chapter 160, Fees and Charges, which we could not read.