Friday, January 25, 2013
Left out of the final version, River Edge wil amend its Shade Tree Ordinance to incude a trust fund account for escrow monies
After a five year process to finally approve a Shade Tree Ordinance this past December, the River Edge Mayor and Council will now move forward with amending the legislation to restore an accidentally omitted section. During numerous re-writes, sections that called for developer escrow deposits to be placed in a Shade Tree Trust Fund were left out of the finalized version. "Several sections were omitted in the revised ordinance that was approved in December that called for any fees or cash bonds to be placed into a Shade Tree Trust Fund for tree replacements," Borough Administrator Alan Negreann said. "If we don't amend the ordinance, any funds would go into the general fund instead." The earliest an amendment could be introduced and …
Friday, November 23, 2012
After numerous rewrites and delays, the Borough Council unanimously approved a Shade Tree Ordinance
It may have taken five years to complete a Shade Tree Ordinance, but the River Edge Mayor and Council unanimously approved the new legislation this week which ties the removal of a tree with that of acquiring a building permit. "We've gone through multiple revisions, heard from our Shade Tree, the borough attorney, members on the dais and from the Paramus Shade Tree Commission," Mayor Sandy Moscaritolo said. "I think we've tweaked this just about as much as it can be tweaked. I would like to thank Liz Stewart and the Shade Tree Commission for all their hard work." The ordinance was initially introduced in May after five years of rewrites and delays but then defeated in early June over concerns of property rights infringement. The …
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
The controversial Shade Tree ordinance will go before the Council for a full vote next week.
Before the end of the month, River Edge will have voted on a Shade Tree Ordinance that has been in the works for almost five years. Introduced just before the Nov. 6 general election, the proposed ordinance could have its final vote for approval next Monday. The ordinance was initially introduced in May after five years of rewrites and delays but then defeated in early June over concerns of property rights infringement. The previously proposed legislation would have given the Shade Tree Commission jurisidiction over the removal and protection of any trees located on both private and public property except for when a homeowner removes a tree on their property for maintenance or in case of an emergency. Later that month, the council began …
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The governing body will again look to draft an ordinance protecting the borough's shade trees from development
Over the summer the River Edge council and members of the Shade Tree Commission continually butted heads over a long overdue shade tree ordinance that began almost six years ago. On Monday night, both sides announced reaching a consensus and a proposed draft will be introduced in November. "What has happened is that we tried to get some of the council involved in fine tuning the public tree ordinance," Borough Attorney Sam Cereste said. "It looks like we reached a consensus with some minor modifications." The process for the tree ordinance began several years ago during former borough attorney William Lindsley's tenure but introduction was continually delayed for numerous rewrites. In May, Cereste threw his support behind the cause, …
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The latest round of amendments will remove any language pertaining to trees on private property.
After a prior attempt to move an ordinance outlining the protection of all trees in River Edge failed along party lines, the governing body along with the Shade Tree Commission met on Monday to find an amendable solution by removing any language pertaining to trees on private property. "What we did was take out all references to private trees per the council's request," Borough Attorney Sam Cereste said. "This would only dictate regulation of shade trees or any trees in the public right of way. The only instance of regulating private trees is as part of the municipal land use law for requirements of site plan development." The prior version of legislation called for the Shade Tree Commission to have jurisidiction over the removal and …
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Over concerns of property rights infringement, the River Edge Council rejected a Tree Ordinance at first but later agreed to revisit the topic at the next work session
After several years of rewrites and failed introductions, the most recent version of a Tree Ordinance in River Edge is now heading back to the drawing board after the Council chopped it down 4-2 along party lines. "I'm a big property rights person," Council President Paul Cordts began. "Reading through this my main concern is allowing more government to move toward private property and that some things are not defined." The ordinance which was introduced on May 21 would have given the Shade Tree Commission jurisidiction over the removal and protection of any trees located on both private and public property except in those cases which are exempt. The main exemption would be a homeowner removeing a tree on their private property as part of …
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
After five years of work, River Edge introduced a new tree ordinance
A new River Edge ordinance to preserve the borough's trees and limit their removal has long awaited its introduction to begin growing its roots. On Monday night, Ordinance #1765 had its first reading after five years of rewrites and delays as Borough Attorney Sam Cereste threw his support behind the current document and that of the Shade Tree Commission. The process for the tree ordinance began five years ago during former borough attorney William Lindsley's tenure but introduction was continually delayed for numerous rewrites. The recently introduced five-page ordinance implements a new requirement for the removeal of any trees by combining an application for removal with that of attaining a building permit. "It's looking for a way to …
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1:50 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Eammon's job is just to report the news. Our taxes are so high in large measure because of the reckless spending that has occureed over the last 10 years or so. In many of the instnaces this spending was approved by voters via referendums. The belief was that the pie in the sky redevelopment in the south of end of town would somehow pay for it all. This is something that our elected … more ›