Ocean Acres, New Jersey
| Ocean Acres, New Jersey | |
|---|---|
| Census-designated place | |
 Map of Ocean Acres in Ocean County. Inset: Location of Ocean County in New Jersey. |
|
| Coordinates: 39°44′30″N 74°16′52″W / 39.741788°N 74.280983°WCoordinates: 39°44′30″N 74°16′52″W / 39.741788°N 74.280983°W | |
| Country |
 United States
|
| State |
 New Jersey
|
| County | Ocean |
| Township | Barnegat / Stafford |
| Area | |
| • Total | 5.956 sq mi (15.427 km2) |
| • Land | 5.848 sq mi (15.147 km2) |
| • Water | 0.108 sq mi (0.280 km2) 1.81% |
| Elevation | 121 ft (37 m) |
| Population (2010 Census) | |
| • Total | 16,142 |
| • Density | 2,760.1/sq mi (1,065.7/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | Eastern (EDT) (UTC-4) |
| FIPS code | 3454315 |
| GNIS feature ID | 02389608 |
Ocean Acres is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) split between Barnegat Township and Stafford Township, in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 16,142, of which 925 were in Barnegat Township and 15,217 were in Stafford Township. Ocean Acres is located in the northwestern end of Stafford Township and part of Barnegat Township, and is the newest and biggest part of both communities, with approximately 5,500 lots in an area of 6 square miles (16 km2).
Ocean Acres was started in the early 1960s, on a large tract west of the Garden State Parkway sprawling between Stafford Township and Barnegat Townships. Potential buyers were bused to the site and in its first year, 2,000 lots were sold. The original Ocean Acres development offered three home designs, two ranch styles and a bi-level design. The original models were located on New Jersey Route 72, west of the present site of the Southern Ocean Medical Center, all three are currently used as businesses.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, growth on the community was slow. Only a handful of the streets were paved, and most homes were used as summer homes. The community offered several recreation centers, such as a lakefront park near the Nautilus Drive entrance (it was eventually leveled to make way for an expanded lake), a second lakefront park with tennis and basketball courts off of Forecastle and Canal Drive which doesn't exist anymore, a bathing beach and pool, and an 18-hole golf course. The pool has since been removed, but the bathing beach is still open to swimmers after being closed for several years throughout the 1990s. While many original recreational centers original to Ocean Acres, many new parks and recreation centers owned by Stafford Township were built since the 1990s.
For years, a state-mandated moratorium on construction west of the Garden State Parkway had limited the 5,500-lot community to fewer than 800 homes. In the 1990s, when the moratorium was lifted and sewer lines were installed; development skyrocketed. Several area developers built nearly thousands of homes in the 1990s. Large areas of vacant land in Ocean Acres were even set aside for other individual subdivisions, such as The Oaks at Stafford development. The Ocean Acres Elementary School opened to grades K-2 in 1999.
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