Citing a clear demand for affordable housing in their town, the Chilmark selectmen are discussing making more town land available for homesites. At their meeting Tuesday, Chilmark selectmen received 14 applications for four affordable homesites at Nab’s Corner on South Road. The Chilmark housing committee has approved the applications. Nine of the applicants have direct ties to Chilmark, putting them at the front of the line for the new lots. There will be a final lottery for homesites on Dec. 5.

In light of the demand, the selectmen on Tuesday discussed the possibility of providing a second parcel of land for resident homesites and other uses.

“We are going to wind up saying no to a group of people who really need a house and deserve one,” said selectman Warren Doty, who had asked Reid Silva of Vineyard Land Surveying and Engineering to create a conceptual plan for a town-owned property on Peaked Hill.

The conceptual plan includes four newly configured lots that could be leased as homesites, and a larger lot that could be used for recreation. Each homesite lot covers one acre, which would allow for affordable housing under the town’s bylaws, but not market-rate housing, which requires at least three acres. The land was originally subdivided into larger housing lots many years ago. “We had thought that if we had a municipal need for a piece of land or something special, that would be this piece,” Mr. Doty said. The land is currently home to a highway department storage shed and a portion is used by the shellfish department as a dumping ground.

Executive secretary Tim Carroll said the project would be “very complicated” and require review by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission as a development of regional impact. He also said one of the lots would likely conflict with the town’s zoning bylaws. “It’s all a concept at this point,” he said.

Mr. Doty also stressed the preliminary nature of the idea. “But this indicates that there is a future,” he said. “When people don’t win the lottery on Dec. 5, we can say we are working on other projects, so don’t be discouraged and don’t go away.”

The selectmen also discussed early plans for a walking path along Basin Road in Menemsha, where traffic is often congested in the summer and there is nowhere to walk but in the road; and the possibility of relocating the old Menemsha harbor shack to Squibnocket Beach.

“The Chilmark beach committee very much wants to have a real shack at Squibnocket Beach,” Mr. Doty said. He acknowledged the town’s ongoing efforts to restore the beach area, but did not believe the town parking lot where the shack would go would be relocated before next summer.

“I think it’s going to be the least expensive solution,” chairman William Rossi said of the proposal. The shack has long been in need of repair and would likely get a new floor and windows before being moved.

An article on the Oct. 20 special town meeting warrant that required a debt-exclusion override returned to the selectmen Tuesday because the selectmen had overlooked a state bylaw requiring them to hold a public hearing prior to the Nov. 4 elections, when the override was further approved by voters. The Oct. 20 town meeting vote authorized the town to borrow $600,000 to repair and repave town roads.