Editing Ocean Acres, New Jersey (section)

==History==
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 [[Split-level home|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 Buccaneer Lane was created. This included 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. This lake also serves as a popular area for fishing and kayaking. 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.<ref>Spahr, Rob. [http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/ocean/article_fa880c0a-e491-11df-9a8b-001cc4c03286.html "Barnegat Township expected to bear burden of growth as Ocean County population continues to boom, officials say"], ''[[The Press of Atlantic City]]'', October 31, 2010. Accessed January 5, 2013. "When Jim Moran first moved into the Ocean Acres section of Stafford Township in 1979, his house was the only one on his street.The development was not new, but a state-mandated moratorium on construction west of the Garden State Parkway had limited the 5,500-lot community to less than 800 homes. But when the moratorium was lifted in the 1990s after a sewer system was installed in Ocean Acres, construction of most of the remaining lots caught up — and in a hurry."</ref> 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.

Development in the Barnegat side of the development was restricted for years due to environmental concerns, development was jump-started in the 2000s starting with the completion of Nautilus Boulevard, which was formerly a "missing link".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AC&p_theme=ac&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0FDF974172EC15D7&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=Nautilus Drive Barnegat link may be done by year's end |author=Mike Jaccarino |work=Press of Atlantic City |date=2003-10-03 |access-date=23 Jun 2011 }}</ref> The Walters Group became the first developer to build in the Barnegat section, an early sales promotion for the Ocean Acres Barnegat homes included a free [[Toyota Yaris]] hatchback to be included with the homes.<ref>Martin, Antoinette. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/realestate/27njzo.html "Offering Prizes to New-Home Buyers"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 27, 2006. Accessed January 6, 2013.</ref>

In 2010, the Garden State Parkway exit 67 in Barnegat was redesigned to redirect the southbound exit ramp onto the Lighthouse Drive entrance to Ocean Acres. The opening of the exit and redesign of the interchange fueled growth of the Barnegat section starting in the 2010s, with a major shopping center under construction at the intersection.