About

Mount Laurel Township is approximately 22 square miles, suburban in nature, with approximately 41,000 residents. Most of the residential housing is single-family homes, town houses and condominiums. Mount Laurel Township is at about 80% build out with the residential population expected to reach 45,000.

The Township has eight elementary schools, and a County College Campus. Approximately, 7,000 children are bused to township schools and the regional high school.

The township has three major retirement communities, one nursing home, and one assisted living center. Additionally, the township is home to many of the regional hospital systems physician group medical practices, diagnostic centers and surgical centers.

Mount Laurel is home to many of the top 50 south jersey employers resulting in a transient work force population estimated at 60,000 (Monday through Friday 9 AM-5 PM). Some of these top employers include: Lockheed Martin, Commerce Bank, Okidata, NFL Films and Mount Laurel's largest employer PHH Mortgage. The Delaware Regional Planning Commission reports that Mount Laurel could have as many as 100,000 people working in township businesses by the year 2010.

The township has twenty-two (22) area hotels/motels boasting over 2600 rooms with a year round average of 65% occupancy. Mount Laurel has the third largest number of hotel rooms in New Jersey behind only Newark & Atlantic City. Mount Laurel's "Hotel Row" is part of the Philadelphia Convention Center's hotel system, since we are conveniently located near Route 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike, just minutes from downtown Philadelphia and the Sports Complex. During the 2000 Republican National Convention that was held in Philadelphia, Mount Laurel hotels hosted eight state delegations and the RNC Steering Committee.

Motorists pass though our township on two state highway Routes 38 & 73, ten (10) Major County Roads, and two interstate highways I-295 and the New Jersey Turnpike. This, places Mount Laurel Township at the crossroads of travel between New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC travel corridors. The New Jersey Turnpike Interchange 4 and the 4N Service Plaza are located in this township.

Township stores and shopping centers, especially at East Gate, adjacent to the Moorestown Mall, attract countless people daily from the South Jersey Region. A new Shopping Center called Centerton Square is anticipated to open in the spring of 2005, encompassing 17 stores with over a million square feet of additional commercial space. This new shopping center is anticipated to double the number of people that will visit Mount Laurel to shop.

Major Recreational Waterways that pass through our jurisdiction include the Rancocas Creek and the South Branch of the Pennsauken Creek. The major airports with flight patterns over Mount Laurel include Philadelphia International Airport, McGuire Air Force Base, Flying W and the South Jersey Regional Airports. One commercial rail line passes through the northern end of the township.

Mount Laurel Township maintains a unique partnership between Elected and Township Officials, Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Services and Emergency Management. This spirit of cooperation between township and elected officials with local emergency services is evident in the normal provision of emergency services to the community. This has been demonstrated in several large-scale incidents requiring local emergency declarations. Effective communications between emergency services has promoted teamwork and interoperability.

The township has a combination, volunteer and career fire department, with approximately 120 members including 10 fire police and 24 pieces of fire fighting equipment. The police department has approximately 72 sworn officers and 40 vehicles. Our Emergency Medical Services is a combination volunteer and career department with over 120 members and 11 vehicles.

Mount Laurel Township has an extensive Parks and Recreation system which continues to grow with the Township's continual mission of preserving open space. The open space purchases which have more than doubled the Township preserved land since 1997 is funded by the taxpayers through three open space referendi, Burlington County Open Space Funds and State Green Acres funding. The Parks and Recreation centerpiece is the award-winning Laurel Acres Park which has playgrounds, sports fields, a nature trail, a fishing lake a sledding hill and the Township's War Memorial. Laurel Acres Park annually hosts the Mount Laurel Fall Festival, a township community day which see more than 15,000 friends and neighbors come together for a day of family fun.

Mount Laurel Township is run as a Council-Manager form of government with a full-time Township Manager and a part-time governing body elected on staggered four-year terms. The governing body selects a Mayor and Deputy Mayor annually from amongst themselves.