A Kinnellon, N.J., homeowner is about to learn what happens when he cuts down his neighbor’s trees.
Tree law is a subject of interest in online communities such as r/legaladvice, so much so that there’s even a frequently shared comic about the subreddit’s enthusiastic reactions. The potential penalties in these cases can make them very satisfying to read.
twitter user Sam Glickman (@SamAsIAm) on the platform share a story The information was relayed by the district forester involved, later identified by Northjersey.com as John Linson.
As Glickman explained, the culprit, identified by local media as Grant Haber, “cut down 32 large trees on his neighbor’s New Jersey property to get a better view of New York City. He hired one guy, who hired another guy.”
Unfortunately for Harper, but fortunately for the rest of the country, most states have laws against cutting down other people’s trees because they are difficult to replace, extremely valuable, and important for cleaning our air. Sometimes, the laws that protect them can be very vicious.
“The fine is $1,000 per tree, so this guy probably thought he only had to pay a $32,000 fine,” Glickman explain. “But the arborist wrote violations to all three parties, 96 in total, and there was a provision requiring replanting of similar trees of ‘the same size’.”
In other words, the culprit and the person hired to perform the task could be legally responsible for replacing the trees they removed—not just planting new saplings, but actually transporting the mature trees to the victim’s lot and ensuring they survive the transplant process.
This process is costly because the trees are so large that they are difficult to move without damaging them. According to Glickman, the victim has been in contact with the only company willing to do the work.
“They had to build a road, remove debris, plant big trees, and water them for two years,” Glickman explain. “He quoted $1.5 million. Additional fines totaled $400,000.” If true, the total cost of felling the 32 mature trees would have been nearly $2 million.
Glickman said Kinnelon Municipal Court held a preliminary hearing on the Zoom issue.
“Zoom is overwhelmed,” he explainedIt added that some viewers were “asked to leave so prosecutors could log in.”
When contacted by Northjersey.com, Linson did not comment on social media estimates of the cost of replacing the trees, other than to say the price was “a bit exaggerated.”
“All I can say is that 32 trees were removed without permission,” he told the media.
