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Ridgewood: dozens of trees to be removed during Schedler cleanup; village aims to salvage many
Summary
The remediation plan will require removal of trees located within the excavation footprint; officials said about 35 trees lie inside the removal area and the village hopes to salvage and replant roughly 80 healthy trees after cleaning root bulbs, but survival is not guaranteed and an arborist will lead any relocation.
Village and consultant officials told residents that many trees within the excavation footprint for the Schedler cleanup will be removed but that the village hopes to salvage healthy specimens for replanting.
Matrix’s Melissa Fiore said trees cannot be preserved when more than six inches of surrounding soil will be removed and estimated that 35 trees fall inside the remediation area. The village manager said an earlier count suggested roughly 80 healthy trees could be candidates for relocation. "We were just asked if it was a possibility and then we indicated, yeah. We you could do it but you cannot transport soil from the contaminated area to the non contaminated area," LSRP Chris Pitterisi said, describing precautions required to avoid moving contaminated soil with root bulbs.
The village said it will hire a tree specialist or arborist to oversee removal and replanting; trees that are moved will have soil removed from bulbs before transport. Officials acknowledged that replanting is not guaranteed to succeed for every tree and that some trees already appear unhealthy. The village also said it adopted a council resolution to replant trees along the northern property after remediation and that replanting will use certified clean fill if leveling is required.
Residents expressed concern about the loss of mature canopy and potential local flooding changes without trees to capture runoff; officials said the park design consultant (Suburban) and the DOT will coordinate site grading and guardrail/roadway infrastructure as needed.
Next steps: tree relocation details, survival estimates and the post‑removal planting plan will be developed with an arborist and posted as part of the project’s public outreach materials prior to construction.
