Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

RUMSONITES BARK AT TREE TAKEDOWN

doug-spencerShade Tree Commission Chairman Doug Spencer shows residents a piece of a tree Tuesday. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Fair Haven officials aren’t quite out of the woods yet when it comes to adapting to changes to the borough’s tree preservation ordinance. And now, they have a little company.

On Tuesday night, Rumson’s council suddenly found itself in the middle of a thorny debate over the efficacy of its tree preservation law after a Navesink Avenue property’s tree population was decimated last week, residents said.

Change to the ordinance and bolstered enforcement are likely, council members said.

Sparking the debate was Clean Ocean Action founder and executive director Cindy Zipf, who lives next door to 35 Navesink Avenue, where an “egregious act” of clear-cutting occurred a week ago, she told the council.  Saws and excavators tore through the vacant lot, which is slated to be built upon, leaving only eight trees, Zipf’s husband, Rick Jones, said. Neighbors estimate 84 trees came down.

Problem: only 23 “trees” were allowed by permit to be cut down. A tree is not technically a tree in Rumson unless it’s four-inches in diameter and at least four-and-a-half-feet tall, meaning a property owner can put an ax to any tree that doesn’t fit those requirements.

Under Rumson’s ordinance, which was adopted in 2002, a permit is required to cut down any trees that meet or exceed that requirement. Owners are not allowed to cut down more than 40 percent of a property’s tree population; that’s considered clear-cutting.

Neighbors say an illegal clear-cutting occurred at 35 Navesink, and they’re riled up.

“I saw what was a beautiful wooded lot disappear before my eyes,” said Bill Wilby, of Holly Tree Lane. “If that’s not a case of clear-cutting, I don’t know what clear-cutting is.”

But Rumson officials say the owner of the property, which is only listed as Petcon at 35 Navesink LLC, and its contractors followed the proper procedures outlined in the ordinance.

It was a lack of enforcement, and perhaps some bumps by an excavator into some perfectly healthy — and large — trees that caused what and instantaneously change the character of the area, near the east end of the Navesink River, several neighbors said.

Shade Tree Commission Chairman Doug Spencer said he agreed that “what was done is hideous.”

“There were a lot of omissions, obviously, and it needs to be looked at,” Councilwoman Joan DeVoe said.

Residents suggested the borough council review the ordinance — which they said works, for the most part — as well as look into adding more oversight of the permitting process and the work being done.

One point of contention Tuesday was the way permits are handled.

In order to obtain a permit, a qualified tree expert must visit the property and sign off on which tree are  to be removed. In Rumson’s case, the tree expert, Steven Becker, also was the contractor cutting down the trees on the property.

“It just seems backwards to me,” said Kate Grossarth, of Ward Avenue.

Mayor John Ekdahl, after hearing nearly two hours of concerns from the public, said he agreed that changes may be necessary, one of them being a third-party tree expert that’s not involved with the work being done on a property. He also said the property owner should sign the tree removal permit.

But he said the council, even though it has final say and oversight of the borough’s ordinance, doesn’t control changes to it. That’s up to the planning board, and he suggested residents provide input to that body.

As in Fair Haven, where the council is currently split on whether to revise its tree ordinance, Ekdahl said the borough is walking a fine line between what’s best for the community and personal property rights.

“It is sort of a work in progress, if you will, but we have to deal with it as we have it tonight,” he said. “I’m not saying it can’t be changed, because it can.”

Neighbors say change is necessary to prevent another case of a heavily wooded lot being reduced to a leveled property that doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the area.

“The spirit, if not the letter, of the law was violated,” Zipf said. “We’ve got to fix this in this town because it’s happening again and again. And it’s got to stop.”

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
redbankgreen Classics
Partyline
Red Bank 5K Fun!!!
Red Bank Classic – June 14th, 2025 (photo by Partyline contributor Adam Kaplan)  
RAINBOW OVER RED BANK
Saturday, before and after the storm that rolled through town. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)    
Mini Ballers Bring the Heat at Fusion Basketball School
As the temperatures heat up, so does the competition in the mini baller clinic at Fusion School of Basketball. These little tykes are intens ...
DOZENS OF PLEIN AIR ARTISTS “PAINT RED BANK”
Plein air artists take over town for first ever "Paint Red Bank" event. (click to read)
RED BANK: SIGN ON ICONIC DANNY’S STEAK HOUSE COMES DOWN
The sign hanging from the shuttered Danny's Steak House comes down ten months after a manager reported Danny's Steakhouse would be back "bet ...
FOR YANKEES FANS, GOOD TRASH PICKIN’
A collection of framed photographs of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and other New York Yankees greats was placed curbside along with a ...
RED BANK: NEW HANDICAPPED PARKING, WEST SIDE MEETING PLANNED
New handicapped parking sign West Side advocate had pressed for is installed, with meeting planned to discuss other concerns. (click to read ...
SUNSET AT SUMMER’S START
Crazy sunset clouds shot from Monmouth Boat Club on the Friday evening at the start of Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer. ...
SIDEWALK GOES FROM WORST TO FIRST
P (photo by Brian Donohue) What had been, in our estimation – and apparently in the eyes of the several people who have emailed and te ...
RED BANK: PEERING FROM ON HIGH, ACROSS THE DECADES
Roofers on the Azalea Red Bank top off the project in the shadow of a sculpture depicting another generation of construction workers who toi ...
BRICK FACELIFT CONTINUES ON MONMOUTH STREET
A million-dollar brick sidwalk makeover of Monmouth Street in Red Bank continues.
JAY AND SILENT EAGLE
A very loud blue jay squawks at an indiferent bald eagle in a treetop alongside the Swimming River in Red Bank this week. (Partyline photo b ...
PIZZA LOVING SQUIRREL SPOTTED IN RED BANK
Pizza squirrel spotted in Red Bank. (click to read)
GET YOUR MA SOMETHIN’ NICE AT THE RED BANK FARMERS MARKET
It’s a beautiful and sunny Mother’s Day for the first instance of the farmer’s market, held every Sunday, beginning in May ...
SIGN? WHAT SIGN?
Folks in Red Bank Wednesday exercising their riparian rights to access tidal waters first encoded into Roman law in 500 AD and later adopted ...
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Partyline contributor captures photo of backyard fox.
STRIPER RUN AT MARINE PARK
An angler pulls in a striped bass from the Marine Park bulkhead Tuesday evening. (photo by Partyline contributor Boris Kofman)  
COLD AS CANADA? CHECK.
A pair of goose sculptures propped atop an air conditioning unit on River Street in Red Bank.
SUNRISE OVER A GLASSY NAVESINK
Sunrise over the Navesink River, seen from NJ Transit Train 3320. (photo by Partyline contributor Karly Swaim)  
A BLAST FROM THE PAST
NJ Transit "heritage" locomotive makes an appearance at the Red Bank station.