Cutting Down Trees Could Cost Chatham Property Owner $25K

CHATHAM, NJ - A Chatham property owner could face upwards of $25,000 in fines for clearing too many trees from a property located at the corner of Mountainview Road and Fairmount Avenue, according to Chatham Township Administrator Robert Hoffman.

There were a total of 29 summonses issued to the property owner that are related to the illegal removal of trees.

"They were issued to both the property owner and Tree Service," Hoffman told Patch.

According to Hoffman, the property owner attempted to use the fact that he is not a native speaker of English and that English is his second language as a reason for the additional tree removal.

Hoffman noted there was a permit issued to authorize the removal of eight trees and that the tree service used understands English.

"Math is international," Hoffman said. "Numbers don’t change from one language to another."

Hoffman said the homeowner will have to appear in court and will have to explain to the judge why he took down three times as many trees as he was allowed.

Hoffman said the recommended penalties may exceed $25,000 but that the judge will determine what the penalties will be.

The property owner may also be fined by other State agencies and more summonses may be issued, Hoffman said.

Thanks for reading! Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site here. Have a news tip you'd like to share? Or maybe you have a press release you would like to submit or a correction you'd like to request? Send an email to russ.crespolini@patch.com

Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter by clicking here. You can also have them delivered to your phone screen by downloading our Apple iOS app here, or by visiting the Google Play store for the Android app here.