A plan to raze and rebuild a historic house on East Chop Drive will be decided soon by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, after a public hearing closed Thursday night on the demolition project.

The house at 19 Mill Square Road in the highlands section of Oak Bluffs dates to 1898 and is listed on MACRIS, the state’s historic building database, triggering commission review as a development of regional impact (DRI).

Homeowners and applicants Christopher and Abby Sage want to demolish the house and construct a larger, four-bedroom, three-and-a- half story home in its place. The proposed home is similar in style to the current building.

A public hearing on the plan opened earlier this summer.

At Thursday’s continued hearing, Ms. Sage said her family planned to live in the home year-round. She and architect Travis Blake argued that renovations of the current home would not be cost effective, and that the property had a deteriorating roof, shaky floors and didn’t meet modern safety standards.

“I’m not someone who would buy a beautiful, historic home and build a McMansion for rent,” Ms. Sage said in part.

Mr. Blake added that the family had gone to painstaking lengths to design a rebuild that modeled the former house.

After recusing himself from the hearing, commissioner Brian Packish, who is also an Oak Bluffs selectman, said he supported the project. So did neighbors Joan and Bill Damora, who praised the similarities to the former house in the new plan.

“We feel very comfortable with the design that they have come up with,” Ms. Damora said.

Although it does not have review jurisdiction, the Oak Bluffs historic commission previously voted 5-1 in favor of the demolition. Barbara Baskin, who serves on commission, said on Thursday she was the lone dissenting vote, and expressed concerns with the tear down. She said the new structure felt suburban, using an excessive amount of glass on its ground floor.

“I have seen these buildings repaired successfully. The buildings obviously needs maintenance . . . but it is not derelict,” Ms. Baskin said. “I have a problem taking down a historic building on MACRIS that is not derelict.”

Commissioners closed the hearing; the written record will stay open until 5 p.m. on Sept. 8. Deliberations and a vote will be scheduled sometime after that.

In other business Thursday, after weeks of back and forth and heated exchanges, the commission also approved the written decision for the regional high school athletic fields project.

The controversial, $7 million plan to install a synthetic turf field, among other improvements, was narrowly approved by the commission 10-6 earlier this summer after months of exhaustive review. For weeks commissioners have bickered over the written decision, the final formal step in a DRI decision. Debate has focused primarily on the scope of what can be included in the written decision relative to testimony provided during deliberation.

On Thursday, discussion grew heated again when a group of commissioners moved to remove a clause that had been approved at a prior meeting; the clause takes note of the detriment “to society as a whole” of a synthetic turf field, despite its potential benefits for athlete experience.

While some commissioners, including Ben Robinson and Linda Sibley, supported the clause, others, including Ted Rosbeck and Fred Hancock, argued adamantly that it should be removed, forcing commission chairman Joan Malkin to at times mute discussion.

The commission ultimately kept the clause, deciding it was against procedure to re-vote on an item that had previously been approved by a quorum of commissioners.

After significant staff edits, the written decision was approved 10-3, with two abstentions. Commissioners Jeff Agnoli, Ben Robinson, and Christina Todd voted no, while Kathy Newman and Jay Grossman abstained. Commissioners Brian Packish, Jim Vercruysse, Clarence (Trip) Barnes 3rd, Doug Sederholm, Joan Malkin, Linda Sibley, Fred Hancock, Ernie Thomas, Ted Rosbeck and Josh Goldstein voted yes.