HARTWICK - A decision on the Cooperstown Dreams Park's latest three-year expansion plan was put off until next month by the Hartwick planning board to give the county planning board a chance to complete its review of the project.

The decision came Tesuday night after a number of people, including Cooperstown mayor Carol Waller, spoke in opposition to the plan during a public hearing telling the board that "enough is enough."

"You can have too much of a good thing," said Hartwick resident Martha Clarvoe. "I think it's too much and the town of Hartwick should say so."

Cooperstown resident Peggy Poulson questioned the board about why Hartwick wanted the expansion.

"We don't," said planning board co-chairman Ferd Thering.

"I don't feel it's a major impact," said Ken Hotaling, the board's other co-chairman.

Another Cooperstown resident and Hartwick property owner Pamela Good commented that she had concerns about traffic safety at the park's entrance.

Paula Wikoff, who operates the Lakefront Motel in Cooperstown and is a member of the Hartwick Seminary Church said the church's well went dry and they had to go down 400 feet to get water and it was still not good.

She told the board she had talked to others in the immediate area and discovered five people who also had problems with their wells.

Wikoff also talked about the Dreams Park's impact on Cooperstown, saying that the wastewater treatment plant will be the next thing that has to be replaced.

"It's not just the impact of the Dreams Park, it's everything else that has come along with it," she said. "I feel like it has changed the quality of life for so many people."

Otsego County Conservation Association director Teresa Winchester said the park's cumulative impact has not been taken into account in the planning board's review of the park's expansion plans.

"No where else is there more impact that the village of Cooperstown," said mayor Carol Waller, who accused the Dreams Park of a failure to cooperate with the village.

"We write letters, we write letters, we write letters and there is never the courtesy of a reply," she said.

Hartwick deputy supervisor Mary Balcom commented that she has worked on Cooperstown's Main Street for 15 years and seen many of the changes. But she took exception with village officials saying the Dreams Park was over-impacting Cooperstown when the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce were actively inviting more and more visitors.

"Cooperstown is impacting itself as well. It's not all the Dreams Park," she said.

Otsego 2000 director Martha Frey also spoke about the need to examine the cumulative impacts the Dreams Park has had on the area and suggested a moratorium that would halt development while the town had a chance to assess all the changes.

Village trustee Lee Malone said the village is having a hard time paying for all the upgrades to its infrastructure.

"Tourism is our big business, but we can't handle it all anymore," she said.

Planning board member Amy Ford asked if the Hall of Fame had been asked to stop advertising for more visitors?

"Yes they have," Peggy Poulson replied.

She later reiterated that "they have been asked to stop and will be asked again tomorrow louder."

The planning board also heard from a number of residents of the Hartwick Pines Mobile Home Park who received eviction notices from the park's owner who plans to develop the property. The six months they have been given to move is not enough time to find new homes or property for their mobile homes. They asked the board in a letter to consider delaying approval of the project to give them more time.

The Dreams Park is wonderful, but when it starts taking homes it is a problem, Margaret Miller told the board.

"You have to consider the impact on the community as a whole," she said.

Following the public hearing, board member Orrin Higgins commented that the planning board has guidelines it has to follow and often depends of state agencies for their expertise when reviewing projects.

If the potential impacts of project are not so adverse that they can't be addressed or mitigated, the board can't just say it is going to deny a project, he said.

"They [state agencies] are concerned, but are not giving us enough to say 'enough is enough,"' Higgins said. "We can't just indiscriminately deny something. We're trying to do what is right for the people, but also what is right for the developer."

The board debated about whether to proceed or wait for the county planning board which has 30 days to review and make a recommendation about the Dreams Park plan.

Dreams Park CEO Louis Presutti asked the board to consider a special meeting when the county's 30 days expire, but because of some uncertainty about when the 30-day clock begins, the Hartwick board will wait for a final decision on the project until its next meeting on August 9.

County planning director Terry Bliss said Wednesday that the county planning board will meet August 4 and will have a recommendation to the Hartwick board in time for the August 9 meeting.

Following the meeting, Presutti addressed some of the concerns expressed by residents and officials.

"Cooperstown Dreams Park is and has been an active member of the local community and the Chamber of Commerce for over ten years. As one of many existing attractions and business that are growing and creating opportunities in Cooperstown and along the town of Hartwick's Route 28 commercial corridor, Dreams Park has actively followed the lead of the village, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the State of New York to promote and invite guests to our community," he said.

"We understand the public's comments and concerns. The Dreams Park is committed to fully support Martha Frey of Otsego 2000 and its members, Cooperstown mayor Carol Waller and the community leaders in rallying our county representatives and state legislators to change the sales tax and bed tax allocation policies and to redirect state tourism advertising dollars into this community to fund infrastructure maintenance."