Edgartonians are fiercely proud of their narrow streets, the widow’s walks, 18th century homes, gardens with perfect roses on white picket fences. They prefer you enjoy it by foot (careful with the thorns); as the town Web site explains, “To view and appreciate this town fully, you must walk its streets.”

Downtown residents fiercely reinforced the message at a public hearing on Tuesday, pleading with selectmen to keep four-wheeled tours away from their village.

But Ron Minkin plans to drive a tour van — please don’t call it a bus — through their opposition, even if he has to hire lawyers to get there.

On Wednesday Mr. Minkin, a charter tour van operator, filed an appeal with the state department of utilities, after the Edgartown selectmen voted not to issue him a municipal street license to conduct tours in downtown Edgartown.

Mr. Minkin received permission from the five other towns to conduct tours in large passenger vans capable of holding up to 14 people, but Edgartown residents at Tuesday’s hearing voiced serious concern over congestion during the summer months.

“It’ll bring more traffic and more busses, we don’t want it and we don’t need it and we shouldn’t allow it to happen,” Bailey Norton said. “When you’ve got stuff like this going on you can’t stand by. Kill this thing right now and don’t let it happen.”

“It’s a public safety issue,” Stuart Lollis said. “Something like this is appropriate for Los Angeles, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for here.”

“I am totally opposed to this proposition here,” North Water street resident Alice Mattison said. “We’ve talked about this before. We just do not want any tour buses of any kind on our side of town.”

Mr. Minkin first appeared before the selectmen in July at a public hearing that brought out similar cries of disapproval. Mr. Minkin has the backing of 30 businesses in town and the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce, but the town’s bylaw does not allow tour vehicles to pass Church street.

“I’m not a bus, I think that’s disrespectful. People have great pleasure in these tours and I have total respect for your town,” Mr. Minkin said. “I’ve never had an accident, speeding ticket, none of my tours ever had any problems.

“It makes me disgusted, don’t call me a bus,” he continued. “It’s a proper size vehicle to do a beautiful tour that you are just holding from America. I’m showing them the right way. You’re trying to stop a thing that won’t change your life one iota.”

But selectman Art Smadbeck argued the traffic downtown is too crowded for a large tour van to operate in summer, noting emergency vehicles have problems getting through the streets.

“If you dropped them off, no one would have a problem with it, but downtown in summertime is not conducive to this,” Mr. Smadbeck said. “On top of all that, there isn’t anybody in Edgartown that is in favor of this. I don’t see how we can vote for a street license. Driving into Edgartown in the height of traffic in the summer just doesn’t make any sense. That’s the problem.”

Mr. Minkin will continue to give smaller tours until he receives a decision back from the state in April.

In other town news, library building committee vice-chair Carl Watt told the selectmen everything was on track for the state grant application to be submitted next week. The committee met with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners last Thursday and reported a glowing reception to the new design at the old Edgartown school site.

One suggestion the state board made was to not sell the Warren House until the grant is approved by the town at the annual meeting in April. As a result, the library board of trustees agreed to sign the grant application at a committee meeting last Friday, even without being assured that selectmen would meet conditions they laid out at a previous meeting.

“That gives me a lot of comfort, I would sign the application,” libraryboard chair Pat Rose said at the meeting.

As to what will happen with the existing Carnegie building if the grant is approved, selectman and board chair Margaret Serpa said, “Right now our main focus is on the [new] main building . . . One step at a time.”

“We have a deed restriction on the property,” Mr. Smadbeck added. “There’s a lot of things that we have no space for right now, for exhibiting a lot of artifacts the town has.

“It’s my commitment to keep that operational in the summertime,” he said.