Edgartown is all partied out.

The Edgartown select board Monday got a first glimpse at a new proposed bylaw designed to curb large social events at private residences. The bylaw, drafted by the town’s building inspector, comes after one home on Edgartown-West Tisbury Road, known as the Uncle Nearest House, held up traffic and racked up more than a dozen complaints during a three-week period this summer. 

The regulation would limit private residences to two social events exceeding 50 people per week and no more than five events per month, enforceable by town police and punishable by a $300 fine.

“This is an attempt at some form of regulation as our town gets busier,” Reade Milne, the Edgartown building inspector, told the select board Monday. She also noted she had received a number of complaints from concerned residents on the issue.

The select board voted to set a Jan. 8 public hearing on whether to send the general bylaw to town meeting this spring.

The bylaw would not apply to private residences being rented as event venues or other commercial uses, she added, as there are other mechanisms to regulate such uses.

“This is just if Margaret throws wild parties five nights a week,” Ms. Milne said.

Last week, the town’s zoning bylaw review committee rejected a proposal to draft similar language as a zoning bylaw, on grounds that it would be too difficult to enforce. Zoning bylaws, unlike general bylaws, are only enforceable through the town building inspector. 

However, Ms. Milne said that a zoning bylaw would allow the town to give out special permits for additional events should they want that flexibility. Currently, the language does not allow for any exceptions.

Specifics aside, town administrator James Hagerty said the draft bylaw was a productive starting point for an increasingly pressing issue. 

“This is a concern that has been raised very vocally,” he said. “I would consider it malfeasance by the town if it were not taken seriously.”