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Township leaf and brush collection in Southern Ocean County, NJ
Seven programmes, seven sets of rules. Here is how each one actually works.
Every township here runs its own collection, and they do not agree with each other about
anything. Stafford wants them raked loose into a row at the curb. Barnegat
wants loose or clear bags and issues violations for putting them out too early.
Lacey wants brown paper and will not come back if you miss the cycle. Getting it
wrong does not mean a warning — it usually means the truck goes past and you wait.
What follows is the plain-English version of each, with a link to the page it came from and
the date we checked it. Programmes republish their calendars every year, so treat the shape as reliable and the
dates as something to confirm.
We do not run any of these programmes and we are not the township.
Exact dates, zone maps and bag rules are set by each municipality and change every season.
Confirm at the official link before you stage anything at the curb.
The programmes
Stafford Township
Manahawkin, Ocean Acres, Beach Haven West, Cedar Run, Mayetta
Stafford Township here means the Ocean County, New Jersey township on Route 9 — the 08050 postcode, Manahawkin and Ocean Acres. It is not Stafford, Virginia.
How leaves go out
Loose. Raked into a neat row at the curb — not bagged, and not raked out into the street: the leaves have to stay on the property side of the curb line.
When it runs
Six months of the year: April, May and June, then October, November and December.
How it is scheduled
Zone-based, on rotating Mondays. Zone 1 is the first Monday (Beach Haven West, Village Harbor, Colony Lakes, Cedar Bonnet Island, Mallard Island, Bayside), Zone 2 the second (Town North and South, Route 9, Cedar Run, Mayetta, Downtown Manahawkin, Perry's Lake, The Landings, Stafford Park, Pinecrest Village), Zone 3 the third (Ocean Acres east of and including Nautilus Drive and north of Neptune Road), Zone 4 the fourth (the rest of Ocean Acres, Fawn Lakes, Atlantic Hills, Paramount Escapes, Warren Grove).
Deadline
The Sunday evening before your zone's week — not Monday morning. The 6am Monday deadline on the same page belongs to brush and metal, which are separate collections.
Watch out for
Do not mix brush or branches with leaves
Nothing within 10 feet of a storm drain inlet
Leaves mixed with brush, tree limbs, PINE NEEDLES or cut grass will not be collected
Which zone is my street in?
Stafford Township runs leaf collection by zone, and each zone has its own
Monday. Find your neighbourhood, then count Mondays from the start of the month.
Stafford Township leaf collection zones — checked 2026-08-17
Zone
When
Neighbourhoods
Zone 1
First Monday of the month
Beach Haven West
Village Harbor
Colony Lakes
Cedar Bonnet Island
Mallard Island
Bayside
“Beach Haven West, Village Harbor, Colony Lakes, Cedar Bonnet Island, Mallard Island and Bayside”
Zone 2
Second Monday of the month
Town North and South
Route 9
Cedar Run
Mayetta
Downtown Manahawkin
Perry's Lake
The Landings
Stafford Park
Pinecrest Village
“Town North and South, Route 9, Cedar Run, Mayetta, Downtown Manahawkin, Perry's Lake, The Landings, Stafford Park, and Pinecrest Village”
Zone 3
Third Monday of the month
Ocean Acres — everything east of and including Nautilus Drive and north of Neptune Road
“Ocean Acres (everything east of and including Nautilus Drive and north of Neptune Road)”
Zone 4
Fourth Monday of the month
Ocean Acres — west of Nautilus Drive, south of and including Neptune Road
Fawn Lakes
Atlantic Hills
Paramount Escapes
Warren Grove
“Remaining Ocean Acres (west of Nautilus Drive, south of and including Neptune Road), Fawn Lakes, Atlantic Hills, Paramount Escapes and Warren Grove”
Collection runs in April, May and June, then October, November and December — there is no collection in the months between.
Where it stops. One pass per street per month, and no second chance that cycle — the township says plainly that once a street has been collected it will not return until the next scheduled zone week. Pine needles are never collected at all, which on a lot with pines is most of what is on the ground.
“All leaves must be raked and placed in a neat row at the curb the Sunday evening prior to your scheduled zone collection week. / Do not rake leaves onto the street. Leaves must remain on the property by the curb line.”
Loose, or in CLEAR bags. Those are the only two forms the township collects — opaque or coloured bags are not picked up.
When it runs
A spring pass in April and May, then two separate fall passes running from October into late December.
How it is scheduled
Five routes, each with its own week. Your route follows your trash and recycling schedule.
Deadline
Out no earlier than seven days before your week, and no later than 6:30am on the Monday of it.
Watch out for
Brush is a separate service: Tuesdays, by appointment only — call 609-698-0080 ext. 120 by noon on Monday
Brush bundles must be under 4 feet, and no more than six bundles per collection
Drop-off
Barnegat Recycling Center, 5 Lippencott Ave — Monday to Friday 7:00am to 2:00pm, Saturday 8:00am to noon.
Where it stops. The six-bundle cap is the one that catches people. A single storm-dropped limb or one overgrown fence line is more brush than the township will take in a visit, and the appointment has to be booked the day before.
“The leaves will be collected loose OR in CLEAR bags on the following schedule:”
Biodegradable brown paper bags, or containers no larger than 32 gallons. Loose leaves at the curb are not collected.
When it runs
Collection runs in cycles rather than on fixed dates; each cycle takes Public Works about two weeks to work through the township.
How it is scheduled
By cycle. Put leaves out before a cycle starts — if they are not out when the crew passes, Public Works does not come back until the next cycle begins.
Deadline
Before the start of each cycle, not during it.
Watch out for
No branches, acorns or other debris in with the leaves
Containers over 32 gallons are not collected
Drop-off
The township Recycling Center takes leaves year-round, including after curbside collection ends for the season.
Where it stops. Miss your cycle and you are waiting weeks, not days — and under heavy oak the leaves that fall in that gap are a second cleanup on their own.
“Leaves must be bagged in BIODEGRADABLE BROWN PAPER BAGS or placed in CONTAINERS NO LARGER THAN 32 GALLONS”
Little Egg Harbor, Mystic Island, Parkertown, Tuckerton-adjacent addresses outside the borough line
Little Egg Harbor Township is in Ocean County, at the southern end of this coverage area. It is a different municipality from Egg Harbor Township, which is in Atlantic County and is not covered here.
Not confirmed. We could not find a published
collection calendar for this township, and we would rather say that than guess at one.
How leaves go out
We could not find Little Egg Harbor's leaf presentation rules published on the township site or in its schedule PDF. Rather than repeat what a search engine inferred, we are pointing you at Public Works.
When it runs
Not published in a form we could verify.
How it is scheduled
Call Public Works on 609-296-3600 and ask for your zone's dates.
Deadline
Ask when you call.
Where it stops. With nothing published to plan around, the county centre on Haywood Road is the reliable route for whatever the collection will not take.
Call ahead. The borough asks residents to phone and schedule leaf and brush pickup rather than working a fixed published route.
When it runs
Scheduled on request through the season rather than published as a calendar.
How it is scheduled
By arrangement with Public Works — 609-296-5058. Collections take place on Tuesdays.
Deadline
Whatever you agree when you call. Small borough, small crew: it is worth calling early.
Watch out for
Proof of residency is required to drop anything at the borough yard
Drop-off
Public Works Yard, 445 South Green St — Monday to Friday 8:00am to 12:00 and 12:30pm to 3:15pm, weekends 8:00am to 12:00 and 12:30pm to 2:45pm.
Where it stops. A call-ahead programme works well until the week everyone calls. If the answer is a fortnight out and the leaves are already matted on the lawn, that is the window a crew fills.
“To ensure complete coverage, Public Works asks residents to call and schedule their leaves/brush pickup. Collections take place on Tuesdays.”
Waretown and the rest of Ocean Township, Ocean County
There are two Township of Ocean in New Jersey and they are constantly mixed up. This is the Ocean COUNTY one — Waretown, 50 Railroad Avenue, 08758 — not the Monmouth County township near Long Branch.
How leaves go out
Loose at the curb, put out the Sunday your section's pickup begins.
When it runs
Sections are scheduled through the Township Annual Calendar rather than fixed months.
How it is scheduled
By section, per the Township Annual Calendar. Call (609) 693-3302 ext. 238 for your section's dates.
Deadline
The Sunday before your section's pickup starts.
Watch out for
Brush is a separate collection: the first and third Thursday of the month
Drop-off
A leaves-only bin sits at Town Hall.
Where it stops. Two brush Thursdays a month is not much of a window after a storm, and it is the collection that fills first.
“Leaves must be placed loose at the curb the Sunday scheduled section leaf pick up begins.”
Not confirmed. We could not find a published
collection calendar for this township, and we would rather say that than guess at one.
How leaves go out
We could not confirm a published curbside leaf collection programme for Eagleswood. That does not mean there isn't one — small townships often run collection without publishing a calendar.
When it runs
Not published that we could find.
How it is scheduled
Call the township on 609-296-3040 ext. 19 and ask. That extension handles trash and recycling questions.
Deadline
Ask when you call.
Where it stops. With no published calendar to work to, the county centre on Haywood Road is the reliable route — it is open six days a week, all year.
The county runs a facility in Manahawkin that
is open six days a week, all year. It takes what the townships turn away, and it is where
hauled-away material from a private crew ends up too.
Facility
Southern Ocean County Recycling Center
Where
379 Haywood Road, Manahawkin
Hours
Six days a week, mornings through mid-afternoon — call to confirm the current hours before you load up
Takes
Leaves and pine needles, brush, compost and woodchips
Blocked inlets are behind the street flooding this area gets in every heavy fall rain, and several townships write it into the collection rules — Stafford's is a hard 10-foot clearance from the inlet.
Never mix brush in with leaves
Leaf equipment jams on branches, so a mixed pile is routinely skipped rather than sorted. Stafford goes further: leaves mixed with brush, tree limbs, pine needles or cut grass are not collected at all.
One pass, then you wait
Stafford states it plainly — once a street has been collected, Public Works will not return until the next scheduled zone week. Lacey will not return until the next cycle. Barnegat runs a seven-day window either side of your week and issues violations outside it.
Do not park on the pile
A crew cannot collect what a car is sitting on, and a dry leaf pile under a hot exhaust is a genuine fire risk.
Leaves are a mandated recyclable in New Jersey
They are kept out of the landfill and composted. That applies to what a private crew hauls away too — it goes to the same county facility, not into a dumpster.
What the townships do not take
Read the seven together and the same shape appears in all of them. They are generous about
leaves — Stafford collects them six months of the year — and they are strict about
everything else:
Brush is capped or rationed. Barnegat takes six bundles, by appointment,
booked the day before. Waretown runs two brush Thursdays a month.
Pine needles are excluded. Stafford Township will not collect a pile with pine needles mixed into it — and on a pine lot that
is most of what is on the ground.
Brush is not leaves, and mixing them costs you the pass. Stafford Township, Barnegat Township, Lacey Township, Ocean Township (Waretown) all refuse a leaf pile with branches or limbs in it. Stumps and root balls are a
separate job everywhere — no curbside programme here takes them.
Nothing is taken from a property nobody is maintaining. Collection assumes
somebody raked it to the curb. On a vacant house, a rental between tenants or a yard that got
away from someone, that is the entire job.
The window is the constraint. Miss it in Lacey and you wait for the next
cycle. Be early in Barnegat and you get a violation.
That gap is what a crew is for — not competing with a free township programme, but doing
the part it does not cover. Tell us what you have and we will route it to
a crew that works your town.
Common questions
What zone is Ocean Acres in for Stafford Township leaf collection?
Ocean Acres is split between two zones. Zone 3 (third Monday of the month) covers Ocean Acres (everything east of and including Nautilus Drive and north of Neptune Road); Zone 4 (fourth Monday of the month) covers the remaining Ocean Acres (west of Nautilus Drive, south of and including Neptune Road), Fawn Lakes, Atlantic Hills, Paramount Escapes and Warren Grove. Which side of Nautilus Drive and Neptune Road you are on decides which Monday your street is collected.
Do leaves have to be bagged in Stafford Township?
No. Loose. Raked into a neat row at the curb — not bagged, and not raked out into the street: the leaves have to stay on the property side of the curb line. The Sunday evening before your zone's week — not Monday morning. The 6am Monday deadline on the same page belongs to brush and metal, which are separate collections.
What months does Stafford Township collect leaves?
Six months of the year: April, May and June, then October, November and December. There is no leaf collection in the months between.
What happens if I miss my leaf collection week in Stafford Township?
One pass per street per month, and no second chance that cycle — the township says plainly that once a street has been collected it will not return until the next scheduled zone week. Pine needles are never collected at all, which on a lot with pines is most of what is on the ground.
Can I put pine needles out with my leaves?
Not everywhere. Stafford Township excludes pine needles — a pile with needles mixed into it does not get collected, and on a pine lot that is most of what is on the ground. That is one of the clearest cases where the township programme stops and a paid clearance starts.
Are the leaf rules the same across Southern Ocean County, NJ?
No, and that is the most common reason a pile gets left at the curb. Stafford Township: loose, raked into a row. Barnegat Township: loose, or clear bags only. Lacey Township: brown paper, or under 32 gal. Tuckerton Borough: call ahead to schedule. Ocean Township (Waretown): loose, out the sunday before. Confirm your own township's page before you stage anything.
Manahawkin Leaf Removal Services is a referral service, not a contractor and not a municipality. We do
not perform work, and we do not set or administer any collection programme described here.