Full Notification

In keeping with the Mayor and Council’s commitment to protect Leonia’s tree canopy, ensure we remain a Tree City USA designated community and at least maintain overall property values, we have updated the tree removal permit fees to better cover our tree replacement costs.  This followed formal consideration at three recent public meetings of the governing body. 
 
Trees are a critical natural resource that provide aesthetic, economic, environmental and health benefits to Leonians.  Tree canopy not only provides shelter from increasingly hot summers, but a mature tree can absorb 4,000 gallons of stormwater per year.  Given the severe rain storms we have experienced recently in light of climate change, trees are a natural protection against flooding.  We cannot simply replace a 36” tree with a 3” sapling.  The Borough of Leonia as well as other municipalities throughout New Jersey have set their own fee schedules in accordance with the value they place on their trees. 
 
To recover a reasonably similar cost of replacing tree canopy and stormwater absorption for each healthy tree removed on private property, the Borough of Leonia’s tree replacement fee has been modified using the Caliper x 2 method (used in New York City).  Effective immediately, the new Tree Replacement fee shall be based on a formula that takes into consideration the size of the tree.  The bigger the tree, the larger the replacement cost.  This replaces the $350 previous fee which was “one size fits all” and didn’t nearly come close to compensating for the loss of one much larger tree.
 
A representative chart of replacement costs using the new formula can be found here:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yNSbPJ8eTb7IyXyCf2c_Ym8pKZemfbqr/view?usp=sharing.
Residents are required to pay a $20 tree removal permit fee, the cost of tree removal plus the associated Tree Replacement fee unless a waiver is granted by the borough in the case of a dead, dying, diseased or hazardous tree in accordance with the ordinance.
 
Please direct questions or comments to [email protected].