Abutters zeroed in on an incipient plan by the Boys and Girls Club of Martha’s Vineyard to develop a new campus in Edgartown Tuesday night, nearly five months after the club signed an agreement to buy 21 acres of the Norton family property off the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road.

Although the plan remains in the preliminary planning phases according to club chief executive officer Jessie Damroth and board vice president Norman Rankow, who spoke at the meeting, residents of nearby Sweetened Water Farm voiced concerns and peppered town officials with questions about future development in the area between the club and the town.

Last May the club signed an agreement to buy land nestled behind the Edgartown School, Sweetened Water Farm and the town recreational area and cemetery for $2.8 million, or $135,000 an acre. The club has 14 months from the date of the signing to complete the deal, and plans for a fundraising campaign are under way. The club is currently housed in a nearby facility off Robinson Road in Edgartown, and serves over 1,200 Island children through a variety of camps, activities and after school programs every year.

Edgartown town administrator James Hagerty presented the project as it currently stands to a crowded room of abutters on Tuesday. Part of the agreement calls for subdividing the Norton property into four parcels, with the northern parcel staying in family hands. Two other parcels would be sold to the town for future expansion of the New Westside Cemetery. The fourth, 14-acre parcel would go to the club.

The pitch-pine covered southern portion of the land planned for the cemetery expansion and the club also contains state Natural Heritage-listed habitat for the endangered imperial moth, which the town plans to mitigate with a second parcel closer to the recreation area, Mr. Hagerty said.

“This is a very fluid proposal,” Mr. Hagerty emphasized. “Just because there are lines it doesn’t mean it is set in stone . . . but it is a plan that would fulfill the desires of a lot of different stakeholders.” He said the town purchase of the lots would be subject to voter approval.

Mr. Rankow said the boys and girls club saw the property purchase as an important opportunity, and wanted everyone to have input during the early stages of the plan. The club has an easement from the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road for utilities that would run adjacent to the Sweetened Water Farm, with preliminary plans to place a shared parking area near the end of Marchant’s Path and an extended town road by the recreation area. The utilities would run underground.

“We’re just getting started, but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” Mr. Rankow said. “This is a win-win for the town, for the boys and girls club, for the whole Island . . . we need a bigger space, we need a bigger building.”

Nearby residents, however, wanted more details the project, pressing Mr. Rankow and Ms. Damroth about the size of the proposed parking lot, where buildings might be sited, whether there would be lighting and whether the public would have access to trails on the future town and club-owned parcels.

“We own that tiny corner house where that road is going to run right by, and where your proposed utilities are going to be, and where your shared parking lot is going to be,” said Anne Fligor. “What’s the setback for the proposed road off the property line?”

Mr. Rankow said it would be about 10 feet, assuring her that the club would be open to plantings to create a buffer. He also said no trees would be cut where the utility access would be.

Other Sweetened Water Farm abutters were concerned about losing access to riding trails through the property.

“We have a lot of walking trails and riding trails,” said Karen Caliri. “One of our uses is to go through this property and meet up to the back of Bittersweet Farm. Is there any inclusion that we would not be completely shut out of our access to get to Bittersweet Farm and other places?”

Conservation agent Jane Varkonda said the town was in conversation with the land bank about trail connections on the property, and that the town was interested in preserving as much of the land as it could, especially considering its current use.

Ms. Caliri asked about shared parking, and whether the club had looked at any other locations for its new campus. She said she previously thought the property was destined to be bought by the land bank.

“I’m envisioning a lot more activity, vehicles and parking, and especially since it’s a shared lot,” she said. “Are you basically just looking at this property because of its proximity to you? Or have you looked at other stretches of land . . . Edgartown is big. It’s not just downtown.”

Both Ms. Damroth and Mr. Rankow said that there were many factors that made the former Norton property ideal, including the sale price, the location, the relationship with the town, and the club’s long history in Edgartown.

At the end of the meeting, selectman Arthur Smadbeck asked for the neighbors’ support, and said the project could not go forward if the needs of all the interested parties were not met.

“This is an ambitious project for the town of Edgartown,” Mr. Smadbeck said. “But the people we need are you guys. We need your support. If you support this project, I believe it will be successful. So it is in everybody’s best interest to make sure your needs, your desires are met . . . Without the abutters being happy about this, this won’t fly in Edgartown.”