2846 24 Tree Ordinance

5/22/24—Accepting Changes from 5/7/24 Meeting and Incorporating Amendments from 5/21/24 Council Meeting accordance with Table “A,” the Township Forester shall condition tree removal upon payment to the Tree Replacement Fund, established hereunder. The Township Forester shall require payment to the Tree Replacement Fund if a person removes a viable tree as determined by the Township Forester which is not replaced on the same Lot, provided, however, that the applicant’s lot is less than three-fourths (3/4) of an acre. 1. Tree Preservation and Replacement Fund: A Tree Replacement Trust Fund dedicated to receive and disburse replacement tree fees when the permit applicant has conclusively demonstrated that it is not feasible to replace a tree(s) removed from the applicant’s lot with other qualifying tree(s) planted on that site in accordance with Table “A.” The Tree Replacement Fund may also accept contributions for its purposes from private or public sources. The amount to be paid in the Tree Replacement Fund shall be in accordance with Table “A” and shall be greater than the cost of on-site replacement both to encourage on-site tree replacement, the preferred approach under the Ordinance, and to assure that the Township is fully reimbursed for all fees and costs associated with off-site tree replacements. These fees shall be fixed by resolution and must be spent for tree replacements within one (1) year of the deposit into the account. All details of this fund shall be available to the public upon request. The Tree Replacement Fund in no way relieves the Township from a yearly budgetary allocation dedicated to planting new trees in the Township. 2. The amount to be paid to the Tree Replacement Fund shall be in accordance with Table “A” upon the approval of the Township Forester. 16