The Martha’s Vineyard Commission last week opened hearings on two applications to subdivide family-owned properties into multiple lots, but declined to take action on a third.

The commission voted unanimously Thursday night not to review Black Dog Tavern owner Robert Douglas’s proposal to divide his waterfront property in Tisbury, which includes the restaurant and other buildings as well as the pier and and marine railway, into three lots.

No new structures or changes of use are planned for the site, according to the application.

“They’re just dividing the property . . . for estate purposes,” MVC development of regional impact (DRI) coordinator Rich Saltzberg told commissioners.

The vote returns Mr. Douglas’s application to the Tisbury planning board, which had requested commission review because the land in question is zoned for commercial use.

“The town is fully capable of dealing with it,” commissioner Douglas Sederholm said.

Estate planning is also the reason Janet and John Packer have applied to divide their 42-acre Northern Pines Farm, on Kuffies Point Way near Lake Tashmoo, into eight three-acre building lots and one agricultural parcel.

“It’s all owned by the trust, which is the kids and us,” said Mr. Packer, who was joined at the meeting by Ms. Packer and two of their three adult children.

“I don’t want to sell it,” Mr. Packer said.

Mr. Sederholm, the hearing officer, asked Mr. Packer to provide more information about water quality and nitrogen production at the farm, as required for agricultural DRIs, before the hearing continues June 1.

The commission also reviewed a request from Edgartown seasonal residents Burke and Susan Ross to divide 17 acres of meadowland and light forest off Meeting House Way into five building lots for themselves and their four children, along with two open space lots totaling about 11 acres.

The Rosses offered a walking trail easement along the edge of the property, which they have named Surke Meadow, but the trail was opposed by commissioners who felt it would come too close to the back yards of homes in the nearby Island Grove neighborhood.

Commissioner Jeff Agnoli, an Island Grove resident, recused himself from the hearing in order to speak as a private citizen opposed to the subdivision.

“Particularly in the last few years, [there has been] nonstop hyper development across town and especially this area . . . primarily of enormous second and third homes, very large houses complete with pools and expansive lawns [that] have replaced woods everywhere,” Mr. Agnoli said.

“As these projects go forward, there’s a general decay in the quality of life,” he added.

Mr. Sederholm closed the Surke meadow hearing, keeping the written record open until 5 p.m. June 1.

Because the subdivisions are within the family, MVC rules do not require a discussion of affordable housing mitigation.

But if sold to unrelated buyers on the open market, the affordable housing mitigation requirement would go back into effect.

Additionally, commissioner Mr. Sederholm said, the Packers’ agricultural property would be subject to higher taxes if it goes out of use for farming.

“If part of the land, or all of the land, is converted to non-agricultural, or it is sold for non-agricultural use, the applicant may have to pay up to five years of the difference in tax between its . . . residential full value and what was paid for agricultural [use],” Mr. Sederholm said.

Also last week commissioners finalized their approval of the Stillpoint Meadows educational center in West Tisbury.

The next MVC meeting is scheduled for June 1 at 6:50 p.m., a new, earlier starting time that was established when the commission began holding hybrid meetings this month.