Zoning Board Approves Santo Marina Redevelopment Plan by 7 to 1 Vote

The Board of Adjustment approved a developer's plan to build 15 single-family homes on the old site over the objections of many neighborhood residents tonight.

"Please, you're all on the take," one woman yelled.

"You should all be ashamed, " another man said.

The vote to approve Ray Masucci's proposed "The Cove On Toms River At Berkeley" was 6 to 1. Board President James Fulcomer cast the lone no vote.

"I just thought there were too many houses," Fulcomer said after the meeting.

The approval came after two special zoning board meetings that Masucci paid for. His original plan called for 25 townhouses on the defunct marina site off Williams Street in Bayville.

Masucci later discarded the townhouse plans and then proposed 19 single-family, three-story homes, which didn't sit well with residents in this quiet neighborhood off Chelsea Avenue.

The application called for a number of variances. The biggest was density. The lots are generally 55 by 100-foot lots in a neighborhood zoned R-100, with 100 by 100-foot lots.

Masucci's engineer Ian Borden said the plans were further revised to increase the side and rear setback footage, move a controversial parking lot to a different area on the site, and give buyers a choice in how many stories they wanted.

Masucci said after the meeting that of the site would begin on Thursday.

Come back to Berkeley Patch for a full story on Thursday