It is fascinating to watch the perennial storm over regulating large houses play itself out this summer in Chilmark, known as much for its Yankee individualism as for its wealth and rural charm. It is unfortunate, but perhaps unavoidable, that the issue has become so personal: the tension between personal property rights and community standards seems to be the dominant fault line in the American psyche these days.

Ugly as the debate has sometimes become, the Vineyard has managed over the years to find a balance between development and preservation, to accommodate growth and change while protecting the unique attributes that make us all happy to live here. Many decry the loss of the good old days while others argue that the Vineyard has become too precious. Yes, the Vineyard is different today, but it has also so far held the line against overdevelopment and resisted becoming just another resort destination.

There is, of course, no simple answer to the rhetorical question we posed in a package of stories in last week’s edition of the Gazette: how big is too big? The question invites myriad other questions: What is the effect on the overall landscape? Will it harm the natural environment? How does it impact the town’s infrastructure? What do the neighbors think? What is beautiful, anyway?

Just because a question is hard, however, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be asked. And just because a solution is difficult, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be attempted.

For better or worse, the question of whether the house owned by Adam and Elizabeth Zoia is legal under zoning requirements in force in Chilmark when it was built will likely be decided by a court. What the controversy over this particular house has brought to the fore, however, is that existing zoning regulations may no longer be serving the community’s overall interests. That will be up to the community to decide.

We applaud the Chilmark planning board for tackling the job of rethinking the way the town reviews new large home plans. The likely outcome of their efforts will be a proposed bylaw that would require houses over a certain size, probably thirty-five hundred square feet, to undergo a series of special site reviews. The approach, similar to one already in force in Aquinnah, would avoid a knee-jerk ban on super-sized homes, and instead provide a structured way to review their potential impact on a case-by-case basis.

Any such new bylaw in Chilmark would be subject to approval by town meeting, where the competing New England values of individual freedom and community self-determination will surely be aired.