A scaled down design for a new U.S. Coast Guard boathouse in Menemsha is still too tall and too intrusive into the harbor, Chilmark selectmen said at a special presentation Tuesday afternoon.

“The height is still an issue,” said selectman and chairman of the board Frank Fenner. “Everything seems to be growing and we’re trying to contain this a little bit and not get into a position where everyone is up in arms about a mammoth structure.”

The original boathouse was 3,000 square feet and one story high. The proposed boathouse is nearly 5,000 square feet and three stories.

The Coast Guard design team first presented a proposal in October that called for a structure 15 feet longer and 6 feet taller than the original boathouse. That design has since been scaled back to just over 6 feet longer and 3 feet taller. Office space, equipment storage and locker room space were cut to accommodate the reduction. Coast Guard officials said the new size satisfies the Coast Guard’s mission.

Selectmen acknowledged the designers had listend to their requests, but still took issue with the size and its protrusion into the harbor.

Architect Daniel Bass of Baker Wohl Architects stood by his firm’s design. “I would respectfully suggest it is a very efficiently designed structure for the programmatic usage,” he said via teleconference from Boston.

Historic commission chairman Jane Slater said the board had some concerns about the size and some windows, but overall approved of the design. “The closer you can come to the old building, the better,” she said.