Stafford Township, New Jersey


Stafford Township is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population increased to 26,535, reflecting an increase of 4,003 from the 22,532 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 9,207 from the 13,325 counted in the 1990 Census. The 2010 population was the highest level ever recorded in a decennial census for Stafford Township.
Stafford Township is the gateway to the resort communities on Long Beach Island, with Route 72 providing the sole road access, ending in Ship Bottom as it crosses Barnegat Bay via the Manahawkin Bay Bridge. The Garden State Parkway and U.S. Route 9 pass through the township and provide access to Route 72.

History

Incorporation

Stafford Township was formed by Royal charter on March 3, 1750, from portions of Shrewsbury Township, while the area was still part of Monmouth County. It was incorporated as one of New Jersey's first 104 townships by the Township Act of 1798 of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, and became part of the newly formed Ocean County on February 15, 1850. Portions of the township were taken to form Union Township, Eagleswood Township, Long Beach City borough and Long Beach Township. The township was named for Staffordshire, England.

20th century and later

Stafford Township was mostly a rural area, aside from the bustling downtown of Manahawkin. Early growth in the township started in the 1950s, starting with the construction of large resort communities of Beach Haven West and Ocean Acres, which were built around the same time as the completion of the Garden State Parkway and the expansion of Route 72, the latter which formerly ran along the two-lane Bay Avenue.
While growing quickly, development was still sparse. Route 72 was still mostly wooded, aside from several car dealerships, gas stations, a drive-in movie theater, and the Manahawkin Executive Airport. Most of the growth started in the 1980s, when several new developments were constructed, such as Colony Lakes and the expansion of Beach Haven West, and Ocean Acres, which strayed from being a community of summer homes into a booming development of Single-family homes. Stafford Square was the first major shopping center to open on Route 72, anchored by ShopRite and a Caldor. Manahawkin Airport was closed in the early 1990s to make way for a Walmart and PathMark. However, part of the runway was still left intact until the 2000s, when the St. Mary's of the Pines Catholic Church and All Saints Regional Catholic School were built on the land.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 54.882 square miles, including 45.849 square miles of land and 9.033 square miles of water.
Beach Haven West and Manahawkin are unincorporated communities and census-designated places contained within Stafford Township, while Ocean Acres is a census-designated place and unincorporated area split between Barnegat Township and Stafford Township.
Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Bayside, Beach View, Bonnet Island, Cedar Bonnet, Cedar Grove, Cedar Run, Manahawkin Landing, Mayetta, South Beach View and Sunshine City. Warren Grove is an unincorporated rural area located within the township as well as portions of Barnegat Township and Little Egg Harbor Township in the heart of the Pine Barrens.
The township borders the Ocean County municipalities of Barnegat Township, Eagleswood Township, Harvey Cedars, Little Egg Harbor Township, Long Beach Township, Ship Bottom and Surf City.

Demographics

Census 2010

The Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey showed that median household income was $68,250 and the median family income was $80,059. Males had a median income of $60,398 versus $43,138 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $31,690. About 2.9% of families and 4.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.1% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

Census 2000

As of the 2000 United States Census there were 22,532 people, 8,535 households, and 6,435 families residing in the township. The population density was 484.3 people per square mile. There were 11,522 housing units at an average density of 247.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the township was 96.79% White, 0.74% African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.96% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.51% from other races, and 0.88% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.41% of the population.
There were 8,535 households out of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.6% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.6% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the township the population was spread out with 23.8% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $52,269, and the median income for a family was $59,072. Males had a median income of $44,706 versus $30,687 for females. The per capita income for the township was $25,397. About 2.3% of families and 4.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Stafford Township is governed within the Faulkner Act, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the Small Municipality form of New Jersey municipal government. The township is one of 18 of 565 municipalities statewide that use this form of government, which is only available to municipalities with fewer than 12,000 residents at the time of adoption. The governing body consists of the Mayor and the six-member Township Council. The Mayor and Council members are elected to three-year terms on a concurrent basis in partisan elections, with terms of all current elected officials ending on December 31, 2023. The Mayor can vote on all issues. The seven-member governing body is empowered to enact local ordinances, to levy municipal taxes and conduct the affairs of the community. In a November 2010 referendum, voters approved a change to shift from nonpartisan elections held in May to partisan elections held as part of the November general election.
, the mayor of Stafford Township is Republican Gregory E. Myhre, whose term of office ends December 31, 2021. Members of the Stafford Township Council are Council President Robert Henken, Dr. Anthony Guariglia, Paul Krier, Michael Pfancook, Thomas Steadman and George Williams; all are Republicans and all are serving terms that end concurrently in 2021.

Federal, state and county representation

Stafford Township is split between the 2nd and 3rd Congressional Districts and is part of New Jersey's 9th state legislative district. Prior to the 2010 Census, all of Stafford Township had been part of the 3rd Congressional District, a change made by the New Jersey Redistricting Commission that took effect in January 2013, based on the results of the November 2012 general elections. As part of the redistricting that took effect in 2013, there were 7,409 residents of the township's coastal areas to the south and east that were placed in the 2nd; District, while 19,126 residents in the township's interior to the north and west were placed in the 3rd District.

Politics

As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 18,029 registered voters in Stafford Township, of which 3,451 were registered as Democrats, 4,944 were registered as Republicans and 9,630 were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 4 voters registered to other parties. Among the township's 2010 Census population, 67.9% were registered to vote, including 88.0% of those ages 18 and over.
In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 57.9% of the vote, ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 41.0%, and other candidates with 1.1%, among the 12,480 ballots cast by the township's 18,963 registered voters, for a turnout of 65.8%. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 57.3% of the vote, ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 40.8% and other candidates with 1.1%, among the 13,113 ballots cast by the township's 18,430 registered voters, for a turnout of 71.2%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 60.4% of the vote, outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 38.6% and other candidates with 0.5%, among the 12,239 ballots cast by the township's 16,776 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 73.0.
In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 74.4% of the vote, ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 24.3%, and other candidates with 1.3%, among the 7,676 ballots cast by the township's 18,813 registered voters, for a turnout of 40.8%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 64.9% of the vote, ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 28.3%, Independent Chris Daggett with 4.9% and other candidates with 1.2%, among the 8,859 ballots cast by the township's 18,174 registered voters, yielding a 48.7% turnout.

Education

The Stafford Township School District serves students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprising five schools, had an enrollment of 2,198 students and 190.0 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 11.6:1. Schools in the district are
Oxycocus School with 178 students in pre-kindergarten,
Ronald L. Meinders Primary Learning Center with 274 students in kindergarten,
Ocean Acres Elementary School with 527 students in grades 1-2,
McKinley Avenue Elementary School with 570 students in grades 3-4 and
Stafford Intermediate School with 651 students in grades 5-6.
For seventh through twelfth grades, public school students are served by the Southern Regional School District, which serves the five municipalities in the Long Beach Island Consolidated School District — Barnegat Light, Harvey Cedars, Long Beach Township, Ship Bottom and Surf City — along with students from Beach Haven and Stafford Township, together with students from Ocean Township who attend as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Ocean Township School District. Schools in the district are
Southern Regional Middle School with 934 students in grades 7-8 and
Southern Regional High School with 1,952 students in grades 9-12. Both schools are in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township.
Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science is a comprehensive and challenging career high school that is located on a hill in Manahawkin on the outskirts of the Southern Regional School District. MATES is part of the Ocean County Vocational Technical School and serves students from all of Ocean County.
St. Mary Academy, a K-8 school of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton, is in Stafford Township, near Manahawkin CDP. It is managed by St. Mary Church of Barnegat. From 1997, until 2019 it operated as All Saints Regional Catholic School and was collectively managed by five churches. In 2019 St. Mary took entire control of the school, which remained on the same Manahawkin campus, and changed its name. The other churches no longer operate the school but still may send students there.

Media

The Asbury Park Press and The Press of Atlantic City provide daily news coverage of the township, as does WOBM-FM radio. The township provides material and commentary to The Southern Ocean Times, which also serves Barnegat Township, Lacey Township, Long Beach Island, Ocean Township and Tuckerton as one of seven weekly papers from Micromedia Publications.

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the township had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Ocean County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
Stafford is served by a few major roads. The most prominent of these is the Garden State Parkway, which enters the Stafford Township from Eagleswood Township in the south and exits northward into Barnegat Township. The Parkway intersects with Route 72 at Interchange 63 for Route 72 to Camden / Chatsworth / Manahawkin / Long Beach Island. In addition, U.S. Route 9 passes north–south through the center of the township and Route 72 passes from the northwest to the southeast. The most significant county road is CR 539, which traverses the western part of the township.

Public transportation

provides bus service to Atlantic City on the 559 bus route.
Ocean Ride local service is provided on the OC6 Little Egg Harbor - Stafford and the OC10 Long Beach Island routes.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Stafford Township include: