Do You Need a Permit to Remove a Tree in NJ?
Since a 2024 state stormwater mandate, every Tier A municipality in New Jersey — effectively every town — has had to adopt a tree removal and replacement ordinance. Whether you need a permit turns on trunk thickness: many towns require one for a street tree as thin as 2.5 inches across, or a backyard tree 6 inches or more. Remove a regulated tree and you'll typically have to replant one to four trees, or pay a per-tree fee that runs from about $10 to $2,100 depending on the town.
Tree permits are the one part of a tree-removal budget you can't read off a price table, because the rules are genuinely local. This is different from roofing, where NJ permit rules are close to statewide-uniform. Here's what changed, what the state model says, and how four real NJ towns actually do it.
What changed in 2024: the NJDEP MS4 mandate
Under the state's stormwater rules, municipalities that hold a Tier A MS4 stormwater permit were required to adopt and enforce a tree removal and replacement ordinance by May 1, 2024. The driver was the 2022 Tier A MS4 Master Permit renewal, issued under the federal Clean Water Act and NJ's stormwater program. The 2023 renewal reclassified all of the former Tier B municipalities as Tier A — so in practice essentially every NJ town is now Tier A and had to put a tree ordinance on the books.
Each ordinance has to regulate removal, require replacement when a regulated tree comes down, run a permit process, and offer a payment-in-lieu fee for owners who can't replant on site. The state published a model ordinance towns could adopt, but towns are free to write their own — and many that already had a tree ordinance kept it. That is why the details below vary so much from town to town.
The model DBH thresholds
The state model sets the trunk-size trigger — diameter at breast height (DBH), measured about 4.5 feet up. A permit and replacement are required once a tree hits:
- Street trees: DBH of 2.5 inches or more.
- Non-street (private-property) trees: DBH of 6 inches or more.
Below those sizes, the model doesn't require a permit. Above them, you're into the replacement rules.
The 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 replacement ladder
Under the model ordinance, the number of trees you must replant scales with the DBH of the tree you removed. Each replacement must be at least 1.5-inch caliper:
| DBH of tree removed | Replacement trees required |
|---|---|
| 2.5" – 12.99" | 1 tree |
| 13" – 22.99" | 2 trees |
| 23" – 32.99" | 3 trees |
| 33" and up | 4 trees |
Thresholds and the 1/2/3/4 ladder are from the NJDEP model tree removal/replacement ordinance, confirmed via the NJDEP/Pinelands Commission model-ordinance overview (May 31, 2024) and cross-checked against the town ordinances quoted below — see methodology. Replacement trees are planted within one year and monitored for two. These are regulatory figures, not price quotes.
Payment-in-lieu. If you can't fit the required replacement trees on your lot, the model lets towns take a per-tree fee into a dedicated tree fund instead. The dollar amount is set locally — which is where towns diverge sharply.
How four real NJ towns actually do it
This is the part that makes tree permits genuinely town-variable. Some towns adopted the state model almost verbatim; others kept older, pre-existing ordinances with their own thresholds and fees.
South Toms River (Ocean County) — adopted the state model
South Toms River's ordinance tracks the model: street trees regulated at 2.5" DBH, private trees at 6". It simplified the replacement rule to 1 tree replanted per tree removed (minimum 1.5-inch caliper) across all sizes, rather than the full 1/2/3/4 ladder, with a payment-in-lieu of just $10 per tree. Residential owners removing fewer than five trees per acre get a limited exemption on a rolling five-year basis. It's a good illustration that a town can adopt the model and still set its own — very low — fee.
Jackson Township (Ocean County) — its own pre-model ordinance
Jackson is Tier A but runs a tree ordinance that predates the 2024 model. It uses a 6-inch DBH threshold, offers tiered replacement or payment-in-lieu that runs $240 to $2,100 per tree by size, and charges a permit fee of $10 per lot plus a $25 inspection (commercial removals are priced separately). That in-lieu ceiling is more than 200 times South Toms River's — same county, very different bill.
Toms River & Brick (Ocean County) — older ordinances still in force
Both are Tier A and both have long-standing tree ordinances. Toms River regulates deciduous trees over 3" DBH and conifers over 4", with a $75 permit (waived for dead or dying trees). Brick uses the same 3"/4" deciduous/conifer split with a smaller fee — roughly $5–$25 on lots under an acre, or $25 per acre on larger parcels. Because these predate the 2024 model, whether they'll need updating to stay compliant isn't something we can confirm here — so verify the current version with the town before you cut.
Medford Township (Burlington County) — the model, with a $400 fee
Medford adopted the model thresholds (street 2.5", non-street 6") and the full 1/2/3/4 replacement ladder, with a payment-in-lieu of $400 per tree into a dedicated tree fund. One thing we couldn't pin down: Medford's ordinance points to a separate "Chapter 71" fee schedule for the administrative permit application fee, and that dollar amount isn't stated in the ordinance itself — a genuine gap. So the $400 is the replant-substitute fee; the paperwork fee on top of it we can't quote. Call the township for the current number.
Two houses the same distance apart in different towns can face a $10 or a $2,100 per-tree fee for the identical removal. The 2024 mandate made the requirement universal, but left the numbers — fee, exact thresholds, exemptions, enforcement — to each municipality. Some towns wrote fresh model-based ordinances; others kept ordinances from the 2000s. Always confirm your own town's current ordinance and fee schedule before scheduling the crew; a contractor's quote almost never includes the permit or replacement cost.
Related: Tree Removal Cost in NJ — full size guide · Ocean County tree removal cost · How we get these numbers
Why trust these numbers?
The mandate and model thresholds come from the NJDEP/Pinelands model-ordinance overview; every town figure is quoted from that town's own published ordinance (South Toms River, Jackson, Toms River, Brick, Medford). We flag what we couldn't confirm — Medford's administrative fee schedule, and whether the older Ocean County ordinances are fully model-compliant — rather than guessing. See how we get these numbers.