The southwest view from the Gay Head Cliffs combines smooth beach and green hills, with tiny vernal pools dotting a landscape of leafy trees, wildflowers and dunes.

This spot, home to the endangered harrier hawk and the spotted turtle, is described by environmentalists as a rare collage of diverse wildlife habitats. Not visible, however, are the lines that divide these 120 acres into dozens of small, privately owned lots, some already host to spacious, two-story homes with balconies and ocean views. Winding through this indisputably lovely place is Moshup Trail, which over the years has given the Island a way to enjoy this land and, now, a splitting controversy over how it should be developed.

At issue is a proposal that would give the town control over development north of Moshup Trail by making it a District of Critical Planning Concern. If that proposal is accepted by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, the town would gain broad power to regulate building there, the same power it already has for the land south of Moshup Trail. But when town conservation officials brought their idea to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, they brought some baggage with them: worry from some property owners, posturing from Island real estate agents and what looked like a spattering of Gay Head politics.

“It’s basically a good idea,” said Michele Lazerow, an Oak Bluffs representative to the MVC. “But it needs to be considered with input from the landowners. Community consensus is very important. It’s essential.”

At this point, however, it’s also nonexistent. An MVC hearing last week drew people with widely differing ideas about who should be making the rules for the Moshup Trail area. Many landowners said that they should have control over their own property.

“I come from a family that has been here for five generations,” said George Blackwell, a Chilmark resident and member of a family trust that owns Gay Head land. “I feel this will limit the freedom of people who have good judgment in using the land which has been held in my family for five generations, with the expectation that, some day, the enjoyment of those beautiful locations could be shared with other people. I’d be very reluctant to see any decision that would hold back attractive, restrained building on land that has been held in the family so long.”

A woman who identified herself as a member of the same trust agreed.

“Our interest in the Island has always been the simple pure joy of living here and respecting the land, making the most of the beauties, allowing it to continue in its natural state to the greatest extent possible,” she said. “The way I understand it is that there could be some new review process that might prevent an owner from having a house that would have a view of the water, by asking that the house be out of the view of those who whisk by in cars on Moshup Trail.”’

Nonetheless, proponents say the area should be preserved for enjoyment by everyone.

“This really is a remarkable place,” said Dick Johnson, executive director of Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, a nonprofit conservation organization. “I’m not from Gay Head but I feel it’s an important place. I’d like to speak out in favor for more of the general public, some of us who can only afford to whiz by in our cars. I hope you’ll consider everyone when you do this. There’s always tradeoffs. The general good, the good to the public, the greater good to the greater number of people, always involves a tradeoff.”

Later, Mr. Johnson said that while the land has unique environmental qualities, observers don’t have to know about the endangered species and unique qualities of the land to enjoy it. The view from the cliffs is especially engaging, he said: “As many times as I’ve driven there it still takes my breath away. It’s heartbreaking to think about it being broken up by a bunch of houses.”

Of course, local environmental groups, Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation and Vineyard Conservation Society are already working on a long-range conservation plan with the town and landowners. What’s more, development is already restricted in some of this area. The land reaching south of Moshup Trail to the ocean is already a District of Critical Planning Concern, so is the first 200 feet extending north from the two-lane road. People who want to build in those areas have to complete a review process with a three-member town board. The district’s building regulations cover five pages in the town bylaws; they include rules that regulate height, siting and parking. One rule states that houses can’t be built in the center of a valley; another says that they must be made of natural wood shingles with neutral trim.

Members of the towns conservation commission, however, decided that district wasn’t enough. Several weeks ago, they went to the commission with a proposal to extend the district and its accompanying rules 1,500 feet north of Moshup Trail. That suggestion was based on a study done four years ago by Martha’s Vineyard Commissioner staff planner Mark Adams. “It’s basically trying not to Katama-ize Moshup Trail,” said Mitzi Pratt, chairman of the conservation commission. Two months ago the commission voted to accept the idea for consideration, and a temporary building moratorium was imposed on the area.

The procedure became riddled with disagreement on Thursday, when proponents and opponents squared off against one another. The commission received a letter of opposition from Beverly Wright, chairman of the Wampanoag Tribe, and heard opposition from another town board. Jeffrey Madison, a member of the board of assessors and one of the town’s biggest developers, said that the proposal had been crafted behind closed doors — a charge that others vehemently denied.

Also on Thursday, two changes were suggested to proposed area. Because the commission was suddenly considering a different area, executive director Chuck Clifford instructed commissioners that they had to throw out the first proposal, then consider whether to accept the second one. They did terminate the first proposal, but, calling for more specific siting information, they tabled the second one — in effect lifting the building moratorium in the area. Since then, at least three building permits for the area north of Moshup Trail have been issued.

Bill Sargent, a member of the Gay Head conservation commission and the MVC, said he was frustrated by the process and would have liked for the MVC to have left the moratorium in place.

“A great uncle of mine signed into legislation the Martha’s Vineyard Commission,” he said. “That legislation granted that board very vast powers. What I saw was a bunch of developers and owners of property who were in line ready to build and had a bunch of fear and decided I don’t like that, we might lose some money, and the commission said that’s okay, and I’m dumbfounded. I’m saddened by it.”

But for now, nothing much can happen until 8 p.m. Thursday, when the MVC considers that matter again at the Old Stone Building in Oak Bluffs. If the group decides to accept the proposal for consideration, a new temporary moratorium will be put in place, starting the beginning of a much more extensive process. Commissioner Linda Sibley said she hopes by then that more people will understand the process. Even if the commission votes to consider the proposal, a long public process will follow and townspeople must approve the adoption of the site with a two-thirds vote at town meeting.

“I think it’s very clear that there is widespread confusion,” she said, “and I feel real anxiety among people who have property in this area and I’m concerned for them.”

But she — and others — also have concern for the land.

“There’s nowhere you could lay down a grid and find a greater diversity of habitats than here,” said Bob Woodruff, a consultant for Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation who said he supports the DCPC effort. “It’s conceivable that you could go down to Moshup Trail 100 or 50 years from now and see houses on pilings. That paints a pretty pathetic visual spectacle.”