FLY CREEK - The Otsego town board will look into the creation of a local ordinance that would regulate short-term rentals like those often associated with Dreams Park visitors.

During its meeting last Wednesday, supervisor Tom Breiten asked the board if it was interested in pursuing regulations similar those instituted recently by the town of Milford.

Milford's local law requires property owners to obtain a special permit for short-term rentals. According to Milford supervisor Thomas Gale, a site plan must be submitted for the property and a public hearing conducted to hear comment concerning the application. Part of the process now is that every property to be rented must be inspected by the Otsego County Codes Enforcement Office, he said. All those who rent to short-term visitors also will be instructed to collect the county's 2 percent occupancy tax, Gale said.

Breiten told the town board that short-term rentals could be established as a permitted use to address issues like safety, traffic, parking, bed tax and the impact on neighborhoods. "There is potential for negative impact," he said, adding, "people have rented their homes here for 100 years."

"Clearly there are safety and septic issues," town attorney Margaret McGown said. "People are packing enormous numbers of people in homes."

Town board member Nancy Iverson said there is a long history of people renting their homes that pre-dates and advent of the Dreams Park and that she didn't think that use should be excluded.

Iverson said, however, that the board may want to look at setting an occupancy limit for short-term rentals.

There is some ambiguity in the town's current land use regulations in regard to short-term rentals. That uncertainty is centered around the definition of a "family."

Last year, town resident Lawrence Pelofsky went to the town's zoning board of appeals to get its interpretation of the law, but withdrew his request before the board could issue a determination.

In town court, Justice James Wolff last month dismissed a complaint filed against John and Joanna Nowlan for a violation of the town's zoning law. Judge Wolff wrote in his decision that the evidence did not establish that the renters of Nowlan's property were not members of a "family."

The town board will also be eyeing some other changes to land use regulations. One of them has to do with enforcement of the provisions of permits issued by the planning board.

"We have people who don't do what they say they will do," McGown said. "We give them a certificate of occupancy in good faith, but they don't do what they said they would do."

In other business, the board:

• discused the village of Cooperstown's new Otsego Lake watershed regulations which will impact property owners in town along the shore of the lake. The regulations will establish a program of routine septic system inspections.

• listened to concerns from Sheila Ross in regard to some part-time employees receiving paid health insurance benefits. Ross said the town clerk and codes officer, both part-time positions, received benefits. She added that she did not want to see people loose the benefits, but wanted the town board to adopt a policy that would stipulate who receives benefits.