Township Cracks Down On Owner Of Santo Marina Property

Larry Irons is going to be a busy man next week, if the weather holds up.

Township officials have arranged for the longtime Bayville contractor to clean up the old Santo Marina site. The cost of the clean-up will be paid for by Ray Masucci, a Staten Island developer who bought the property from Paul Santo for $1.9 million nearly two years ago.

"It's scary out there," Irons said late Friday afternoon during a tour of the site with Council President James J. Byrnes. "I've counted 25 boats so far. We counted 2,000 cement blocks."

Byrnes, Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr., Masucci and township Code Enforcer Kenneth Anderson to determine what security measures to need to be taken and to iron out the details of the clean-up.

"The township is not paying for anything," Byrnes said.

Masucci bought the defunct marina from owner Paul Santo for $1.9 million back in 2010.

The trailers, a house on the north side of the property and the battered marina offices have been boarded up since last week. Orange see-thru plastic fencing lines the perimeters of the badly warped docks.

Irons will be hauling out the abandoned sailboats and powerboats over the week. He will cut the masts off the sailboats and raise them out of the water.

who live in this quiet Bayville neighborhood at the edge of the Ocean Gate border said they are glad the property will be cleaned up.

"It's a step in the right direction, for starters," said Gary Bleiberg, who lives on Doyle Drive with his wife Jenny. "If it prevents one kid from getting hurt, I guess it's a good idea."

But they are still opposed to Masucci's plans to put 19 single-family, 2.5-story homes on the site, along with a dockmaster's house, marine store, parking lot, 44 boat slips and 44 Jet-Ski slips.

"This whole project is one big variance," Bleiberg said. "Nothing about this conforms to anything."

Attorney John Paul Doyle will present the application at the May 23 Board of Adjustment meeting in Town Hall.

Bob Parzanese, Cedar Street, said he and other concerned neighbors are planning on handing out fliers to homes nearby to alert them to the zoning board meeting on Wednesday.

"Maybe the zoning board will see people are very concerned about what's going on."