WEST ORANGE, NJ — Four 80-year-old oak trees were cut down in the parking lot of the Shillelagh Club on Prospect Avenue on Tuesday, Aug. 1, amid a dispute about whether the club had obtained the necessary permits to cut them.
The West Orange Tree Protection and Removal Ordinance reads: “Any person desiring to cut down or remove a tree shall file an application for a tree removal permit issued pursuant to this chapter, and shall not commence the cutting down or removal of any tree without first having been issued a permit.” Trees that are cut down in violation of the ordinance can result in a fine of up to $2,000 or imprisonment for up to 90 days.
However, the Shillelagh Club trees were not cut down in violation of the ordinance, according to Shillelagh Club President Patrick O’Rourke, who said a permit is not required when removing a nonviable or diseased tree. There was verbal communication between the club and the township to determine if the trees should be removed. The exemptions section of the ordinance includes the “cutting down or removal of a nonviable tree, or a tree that is an immediate hazard to structures or human life or property.”
“We’ve been working with the town forestry department,” O’Rourke told the West Orange Chronicle in a phone interview on Aug. 9. “We did not need the permit before the work was performed. There was damage done from utility work that had been done.”
According to O’Rourke, trenches dug through the parking lot had previously damaged the roots of the four trees.
“We’ve come up with a plan to replace them with 10 new trees,” O’Rourke said.
The damage to the trees came from gas and water lines placed in the club’s parking lot and that connect to a building on the campus of Seton Hall Prep.
“The lines had to be dug at that location to comply with the fire official’s ruling of proximity to the new fire hydrant,” Mayor Robert Parisi wrote in an Aug. 9 email. “In digging the lines, the roots to the row of trees in the center of the parking lot were damaged, and damaged enough that our forester, after inspecting the property, determined they posed a potential hazard come severe weather or even falling on their own, and agreed they should be taken down. The forester communicated this to all parties involved.”
Because the trees were damaged prior to their removal, the Shillelagh Club is not in violation of the tree ordinance, according to the township administration. The ordinance allows up to the three healthy trees to be removed without a permit as long as the property owner files a Tree Removal Report with the town. The report allows the town to keep track of the trees removed over a 365-day period. According to Parisi, the Shillelagh Club submitted the Tree Removal Report to the township, even though the four trees removed had been damaged.
Nevertheless, neighbors of the Shillelagh Club have expressed concern over the removal of the trees.
“West Orange is noted for its historic big trees,” resident Sally Malanga said in an Aug. 3 phone interview, in which she cited the importance of the trees on busy Prospect Avenue. “The tree canopy is important to that neighborhood. All of West Orange drives on that street. The town has to be more vigilant.”
Dina Delmonico, another neighbor who saw the trees being cut down in the Shillelagh Club parking lot, stressed the importance of keeping trees healthy in town and avoiding removal when possible.
“People move to the suburbs to get out of the city, and when trees are taken down this area starts to look more like the city,” Delmonico said.
According to Parisi, the damage done to the trees in the Shillelagh Club parking lot was unintentional, and the removal and forthcoming replacements were not in violation of the ordinance.
“Though the inadvertent damage of trees was unfortunate, it was not in violation of the township’s tree ordinance and despite our right to debate such issues, safety is always paramount,” Parisi said.
Photos Courtesy of Sally Malanga
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