Approximately 25 people attended Monday night’s hearing, which featured a presentation by the village land use committee, a public comment session and an informational meeting where residents and committee members talked about a range of issues, said Jim Havener, committee chair.

Otsego County planning director Terry Bliss and senior planner Karen Sullivan were also present and helped facilitate the discussion, Havener said.

"It was very productive," he said. "There was no dominant issue that came to the forefront of things we had proposed that people were opposed to."

Havener said a variety of issues were discussed during the two-and-a-half hour meeting, including how to handle non-conforming properties and what happens if a structure is destroyed but cannot be rebuilt without violating the standards set forth in the law.

Village mayor and committee member Sabine Curry also said the hearing went well and that residents in attendance brought up several good points about the law. She said while no major revisions are planned for the law, a few minor changes will be made before passing the law on to the village board at its meeting tonight.

"Our setback figures were ridiculous, I don’t even know what we were thinking," she said. "When you look at the plan over and over and over again for a year, you tend to overlook things."

Although land use laws are often a source of contention, both Havener and Curry said opposition to Milford’s proposed plan was relatively light.

What opposition there was came mostly from people who don’t want to be told what they can or can’t do with their property, Havener said. Although as the meeting wore on, some of that hesitance seemed to be reduced, he said.

"People listened to what our initiatives were and I think they understood where we’re coming from," he said.

The zoning regulations are being considered in part to comply with the vision set forth in the village’s comprehensive plan and also to make it somewhat easier to receive grants for improving village infrastructure, Havener said.

"Many granting agencies look to see if we have land use regulations in place," he said.

Curry said that surprisingly little "hoopla" was made about short-term rentals at the hearing. Permits will be required for short-term rentals if the village adopts the regulations.

"It’s a big problem," she said about the proliferation of short-term rentals in the village. "Affordable rentals are gone. Housing prices have gone out of the reach of young, starting families. It’s hurting our school’s (enrollment.)"

She said the zoning regulations won’t prevent the short-term rentals from continuing to pop up, but will hopefully allow the village to regulate them more.

The village board will likely be given a revised copy of the zoning laws at tonight’s meeting, Curry said, and will likely schedule a public hearing on the law. Curry said she thinks more people will turn out for that hearing, which is a good thing.

"You don’t want to put something like this out without the consensus of the residency," she said.

A copy of the revised regulations will be made available at www.coopercrier.com after the town board meeting Thursday night.