Rick Jones, who shot this video in August, and his wife, Cindy Zipf, claim flooding in their neighborhood was worsened by clear-cutting that the town should not have allowed.
A dispute over the removal of trees from a residential building lot in Rumson continues in public Monday night with neighbor expecting a “show down” with a developer, she and her husband say in a press release.
Borough officials, however, contend that Cindy Zipf‘s claim that They turned a blind eye to a wholesale “murder ” of trees on Navesink Avenue is unfounded.
Though most of the trees have been removed from the building lot at 35 Navesink, Clean Ocean Action founder and executive director Zipf and her husband, Rick Jones, are appealing the issuance of a tree-removal permit by Frederick André, the borough’s tree conservation officer, to Petcon, which is building a 5,000-square-foot residence on the corner lot.
They say they also hope to win an acknowledgment that mistakes were made and stricter enforcement of a tree-protection ordinance.
So far, however, only Zipf and Jones, through a lawyer, have been heard by the borough planning board on the appeal.
André, Shade Tree Commission Chairman Doug Spencer, a tree expert and Petcon representative John Tsakiris are expected to testify.
