Vineyard Medical Care is seeking permission to relocate from its longtime spot on State Road Vineyard Haven to the Oak Bluffs property owned by Dr. John Campbell, a chiropractor whose home on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road doubled as a medical facility for years.

But the Oak Bluffs selectmen say the town’s home-business bylaw does not allow for the change.

At a well-attended meeting Tuesday, Michael Loberg, who bought the Vineyard Medical Care clinic in 2014, appeared before the selectmen with colleague Dr. James Butterick and attorneys Eric Peters and Erik Hammarlund, to make the case for a special permit under the town bylaw. Mr. Loberg argued, among other things, that the proximity of the regional high school, and various services made the house on Ryan’s Way an ideal location, and that it would offer better facilities, including six exam rooms and an X-ray lab.

The town home business bylaw, adopted in 2006, requires that home businesses be “clearly incidental and secondary” to residential use, with not more than five customers at a time, among other provisions. Applicants expect the clinic to occupy about 1,500 square feet, double the amount allowed under the bylaw. But they said the house would remain in residential use, with no exterior changes and an office manager living on site.

Town officials sharply questioned the group’s approach.

“Your business is going to be a lot more intense than what Dr. Campbell’s has been,” selectman Gail Barmakian said. “The argument doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

Building inspector Mark Barbadoro said the bylaw presented a number of dead ends, including a provision that says special permits will expire when the property changes hands. Because Dr. Campbell still owns the property, he said: “If you grant the special permit, and there’s a million reasons why you shouldn’t — if you did do that, it will expire prior to the new owner taking possession.”

Oak Bluffs planning board chairman Brian Packish said the proposal fails to meet any of the 14 requirements in the bylaw. “I don’t see a single ground that you have to award this home business,” he said. “What this is an attempt to do is to basically rezone this property through a bunch of innuendo and twisting and turnings of our bylaw.”

Public comments revealed a mix of support and skepticism for the proposal.

Abutter Kris Chvatal said he believed the application would need to originate with the current owner. “I’d love to see them get to a better spot, but there is no door here to enter at all,” he said.

Emma Green-Beach, who grew up in the neighborhood, recalled the benefits of having a doctor close by, and backed the clinic’s efforts to relocate. “If there was a way that it did work and jive with everyone’s rules, I think it would be an asset to the community,” she said.

Mr. Loberg called the three-bedroom house “one of the Island’s great medical resources,” and warned that it could end up being lost without help from the town. “We’re here, perhaps misguided, but hoping that there can be some problem solving that can let this asset that was built be deployed,” he said, noting the opportunity to house medical caregivers. “I don’t have to tell you how under-resourced we are in this area,” he said.

Selectmen held their ground, although they didn’t rule out the possibility of finding other ways to allow the relocation. Selectman Walter Vail said the area made “perfect sense” for the clinic, and said he hoped to find another approach before the property sells.

But the applicants also held their ground. Mr. Peters noted a long history of business activity in the neighborhood, including a bakery, a pet store, a boat business, tent rentals, a carpet cleaner and a limousine service. “I used to teach tai chi in Leslie Look’s residential home business,” he said. “It isn’t like this property exists in a vacuum.” But Ms. Barmakian said the proposal at hand was different, since the owners would not be living onsite. (Mr. Loberg said the corporate ownership structure was still in the works.) “I just see it as circumventing our home business bylaw,” she said.

The selectmen agreed to seek legal counsel and continue the hearing on Oct. 25.

In other business, Lampost Bar and Nightclub owner Adam Cummings presented an update on his plans to convert the top three floors of his building into year-round rental housing. He said the project had gained steam this year, during which staff members had more trouble than ever finding housing. The project will create about 24 bedrooms, with one apartment on each floor. Mr. Cummings has yet to determine who will qualify for the units, but said they all are meant for year-round tenants. At his request, the selectmen referred the project to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission for review as a development of regional impact (DRI).

Selectmen also considered a request to redesignate zoning areas around the Barn, Bowl and Bistro on Uncas avenue. Bistro co-owner Robert Sawyer had asked in April that two abutting parcels be converted from R1 residential to B1 commercial districts, which would require a public hearing and a town meeting vote. The selectmen agreed to refer the proposal to the town planning board. They also voted to cancel a special town meeting scheduled for Nov. 15, after town administrator Robert Whritenour said the town’s free cash account had yet to be certified.

The meeting will be rescheduled to a later date.