Three bench trials — including a long-running fight over a Chappaquiddick cell tower — top a busy civil docket as the Dukes County Superior Court meets for its fall sitting starting Monday.

The superior court, which has jurisdiction over most major criminal cases and civil cases where damages can exceed $50,000, convenes in formal session twice annually — in April, and October — as well as hearing pending matters at various times throughout the year.

The Hon. Paul D. Wilson, an associate justice of the superior court who normally sits in Suffolk County, will preside over the four-week session running from Tuesday, Oct. 6 to Oct. 29.

Due to coronavirus restrictions, state courts currently are not holding jury trials. Some proceedings will occur at the Edgartown courthouse in person; others will be held over Zoom, clerk of courts T. George Davis said. All trials will be held as bench trials.

In civil matters, an appeal from aggrieved neighbors in the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s 2017 decision to approve the construction of a cell tower on Chappaquiddick is scheduled to have its day in court, with a pretrial conference set for Oct. 8 and a bench trial scheduled for Oct. 26.

The 115-foot, AT&T cell tower was approved by the commission in an 8-2 decision three years ago. The project was subsequently approved by the Edgartown planning board in a 4-1 vote, and is meant to improve cell service on Chappaquiddick.

In an eight-page complaint filed in February 2018, neighbors Dana and Robert Strayton argued that the commission decision disregarded alternative sites for the cell tower, which is located on manager Robert Fynbo’s property at 14 Sampson avenue, and never properly approved an earlier version of the tower. The Strayton’s live 178 feet from the property, according to the complaint, and say that the tower will be “visually obtrusive,” lead to increased noise and decrease their property value.

Plaintiffs are seeking to have the decision annulled.

A separate appeal of the planning board decision has been filed in Massachusetts land court.

The commission and co-defendants have denied most of the claims. In recent months, a flurry of motions seeking to delay the trial while waiting for a decision in the planning board appeal have been denied.

A contentious civil dispute involving neighbors and a view easement in the Majors Cove development near Sengekontacket Pond is also scheduled for an Oct. 19 bench trial. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The plaintiffs are homeowners Richard Friedlander and Barbara Alessi, who claim in a complaint dating to 2016 that a neighbor illegally trespassed on their property and cut trees, and that they were harassed by another neighbor.

Recent pleadings in the case have called for censorship of attorneys, a rare request in civil matters.

A third civil trial scheduled involves a complicated inheritance and property law case between family members.

On the criminal docket, five cases are pending disposition and set for pretrial conferences but there are no scheduled trials. The court is set to hold pre-trial conferences on Oct. 13 for Jermaine Sharpe, who was indicted last year on carjacking and armed robbery charges, as well as Sebastian Pattavina, an Edgartown massage therapist indicted on indecent assault and rape charges.

A Dukes County grand jury is set to convene Monday, although Mr. Davis said new criminal indictments are not expected. The grand jury generally sits for one year and is made up of 23 people who examine evidence to see if it is strong enough to bring a criminal charge.

Mr. Davis said the grand jury may consider new indictments next month, when the court is less busy with civil cases.

“We are chock-full of stuff to do in October,” the court clerk said.