The planning board is ready to present a series of "next steps," or recommendations, to the board of trustees. They came out of its review of the impact of tourist accommodations during the moratorium currently in effect.

The recommendations will be in the hands of the trustees in time for their Monday meeting when they are expected to approve extending the moratorium for another 90 days following a public hearing scheduled for that evening.

After its regular meeting Tuesday, the planning board reviewed the results of its fact-finding and the conclusions they have drawn.

There are between 50 and 60 tourist accommodations currently operating in the village - most legally, but also as many as 10 of them which are not permitted. That number, the board concluded, "does not represent a major concern."

But the fact there have been 16 applications for new tourist accommodations in the last two years is "alarming and of great concern," according to the board. If that growth is left unchecked, the total number of tourist accommodations could double in the just five years.

Another conclusion reached by the planners is that much of the negative public opinion regarding quality of life issues is focused on the illegal weekly rentals associated with Dreams Park. The impact of tourist accommodations on the village's infrastructure is, however, shared by both legal and illegal tourist accommodations.

The board is also worried about the safety of visitors and the legal and liability implications for the village without fire and building standards and a rigorous inspection regimen.

The "next steps" being submitted to the trustees are still somewhat general and details remain to worked out, the planners said.

The next steps include:

ä increasing the fine for operating a tourist accommodation without a valid permit. The board is not recommending an amount, but believes it should be enough to discourage further violations.

"The idea of a fine to have someone understand they shouldn't do it again," said Bill Rigby.

"It has to be something that makes them stop," added planning board chairman Paul Kuhn.

Currently the fine is $250, but has been pleaded down to $100 in village court, according to zoning enforcement officer al Keck.

• establishing a cap or maximum number of tourist accommodations in the village. It could be the current number or larger number to allow for some growth.

Once the cap is reached, a waiting list would be established and as special permits became available, the opportunity would be offered to the next applicant in line.

One result of such a cap, is an increased value of permitted tourist accommodations. 'It would certainly inflate the real estate value with a cap," said Keck.

• establishing a an annual fee that could be used to offset the cost of a mandatory annual inspection program.

"Our residents shouldn't have to pay for Al," Kuhn explained.

• establishing minimum building and safety standards for tourist accommodations.

• making an effort to convince the county board of representatives to give Cooperstown a more equitable share of the sales tax revenue to help pay for the impacts of tourism.

• extending the 90-day moratorium for another 90-day period.

• instituting an amnesty period at the end of the moratorium to allow tourist accommodations to come into compliance with the law and/or their existing special permit.

Planners decided to forward the next steps to the trustees at this time so "they will know the direction we are going," Kuhn said.

Assuming the trustees decide to extend the moratorium, it will leave 90-days in which to craft the details of any changes to the zoning law, hold a public hearing on the changes and adopt them so they would be in effect when the moratorium expires in April.

The public hearing on the extension of the moratorium is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 20.