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Green Township adopts tree-preservation and stormwater ordinances to curb clearing and limit salt runoff
Summary
Green Township approved Ordinances 2024-09, 2024-10 and 2024-11 on Nov. 25, 2024, creating a tree-preservation rule, tightening salt/de-icer storage standards and updating stormwater rules to reflect state technical requirements. The changes add permitting and storage controls and revise design and calculation standards.
Green Township Mayor Margaret "Peg" Phillips and the Township Committee adopted three ordinances on Nov. 25, 2024, aimed at protecting trees and reducing stormwater pollution.
The most detailed measure, Ordinance 2024-09, creates a new Section 30-17.1B titled “Tree Preservation.” The ordinance defines terms such as “hazard tree,” “clear cutting,” and “tree removal,” establishes exemptions (for example, hazard trees and approved agricultural operations), and authorizes enforcement by the Township Zoning Officer. The ordinance requires approval from the Zoning Official for many removals and mandates replacement or restoration where unauthorized cutting occurs.
During the public hearing resident Josephine Fracasso asked, “if this ordinance is affecting tree removal,” a procedural question about whether ordinary removals on private property would be limited. Mayor Phillips responded that the ordinance "outlines what trees can be taken down, defines the hazard trees and the criteria for removal. Approval will be required from the Zoning Official." The committee closed the hearing and voted to adopt the ordinance unanimously.
Ordinance 2024-10 imposes new requirements for storage of salt and other solid de-icing materials on private property to prevent exposure to stormwater. It allows limited temporary outdoor storage between Oct. 15 and April 15 under controlled conditions (impermeable base, cone-shaped piles, waterproof covers secured around the pile, weekly inspections for some nonresidential sites) and encourages permanent enclosed storage where practical. The measure includes a 72-hour cure period for violations and fines up to $500 per day for repeat or uncorrected violations.
Ordinance 2024-11 updates the Township’s stormwater control chapter to align Green Township’s code with recent amendments to the state stormwater rules (N.J.A.C. 7:8). The ordinance revises technical standards for runoff and groundwater recharge calculations, updates precipitation adjustment factors for Sussex County, amends guidance sources (referencing the NJ Stormwater Best Management Practices Manual), and creates a private storm-drain-inlet retrofitting requirement intended to reduce solids and floatables entering the municipal storm sewer.
Bader Qarmout cast the lone dissenting vote on Ordinances 2024-10 and 2024-11; the other members — James DeYoung, Virginia “Ginnie” Raffay, Michael Rose and Mayor Phillips — voted in favor.
Why it matters: The ordinances change the scope of local permits and compliance for property owners, site developers and businesses that store de-icing materials. They impose new standards for how and where trees can be removed, and they add enforceable storage and inlet-retrofit requirements intended to reduce contaminants entering the township’s storm drains and waterways. The Township Attorney will provide implementing procedures and the Zoning Official will handle enforcement and permit review going forward.
The ordinances take effect in accordance with their adoption language (some provisions are effective upon publication; others reference timetable or permit processes in the ordinance text). The Township will advertise the final ordinances as required by law.
