On the eve of a public hearing and subsequent formal adoption of the Island Plan, a comprehensive blueprint for the future that has been on the drawing board at the Martha’s Vineyard Commission for more than three years, the Edgartown selectmen have said they cannot support the plan in its current form.

“I think it’s a mistake to rush something that we’re going to live with for the next 50 years,” said selectman Arthur Smadbeck. “I think it deserves a lot more attention before we adopt it.”

The comments came during the weekly selectmen’s meeting on Monday afternoon.

A public hearing was held on the Island Plan at the commission last night; the commission is due to vote on formally adopting the plan next week. The plan has involved dozens of Island leaders from every corner of the community and has been the subject of hundreds of hours of public meetings over the last three years.

Commission representatives have been appearing before town selectmen in recent weeks to prepare for the public hearing and the vote; for the most part they have been received cordially and with support for the plan.

Until they went to Edgartown this week.

On Monday, MVC executive director Mark London, commission member James Athearn and steering committee member Ann Floyd got an earful from the selectmen, who said the Island Plan is riddled with contradictions and needs more public airing before it is adopted.

“In speaking about our children and the jobs that are available, there was to be the encouragement of higher paying jobs. If we create more high paying jobs . . . we’re going to increase population densities,” Mr. Smadbeck said.

Selectman Margaret Serpa agreed. “I didn’t fully understand the growth concern and controlling the growth,” she said, referring to a section of the plan that calls for a reduction in the rate of growth and development on the Island. “How do you say these people can come here and these people can’t?”

Mr. Smadbeck also said the cost of implementing the plan is up in the air. “Really there was no addressing who was going to pay for it. There was no quantifying of that financially,” he said.

For example, he pointed to a section of the plan that calls for greater energy efficiency in new construction. While it promises to reduce waste and energy use in the future, it also inflates the initial costs of building. “This is something that I think the residents of Martha’s Vineyard deserve to know, that is going to require everybody to build at a much more expensive cost than what they’re currently paying,” said Mr. Smadbeck.

“What really stood out to me was the added expense to the young people that are trying to stay here,” said Mrs. Serpa. “I think that you’re making it appear to me that it’s going to be more expensive for them to stay here.”

Selectman and board chairman Michael Donaroma echoed the concerns. “I do think there are some concerns with going full speed ahead with this,” he said. “I know once this thing gets approved, the commission will start . . . to restrict people’s creativity, or people’s beliefs, or people’s rights.”

The three MVC spokesmen countered the concerns, saying that the plan is only intended to outline principals, goals and strategies for the future of the Island.

“I have thought of this as a comprehensive guide for the future, not a mandate,” said Ms. Floyd. “It’s not telling you you have to do anything . . . It is not a static plan. Right now it’s an overall guide in all the aspects included.”

But the selectmen were unmoved. They suggested that the steering committee organize a series of public forums to present the plan to the public before asking for approval from Island towns. “It ought to be required to be read by a wide group of people,” said Mr. Smadbeck. “I’m worried that the general public is going to have a difficult time unless we break it down.”

Mr. London said that is exactly what the commission has been doing for the past three and a half years. He said there have been public forums each summer, and organized work groups for each of the plan’s eight topics, which include issues like development and growth, housing and transportation. “We’ve taken it out to the community many times,” said Ms. Floyd. “We’ve had it on the Internet.”

Mr. London said all other towns have endorsed the plan as it stands.

“I never expected to hear that we hadn’t taken long enough,” said Mr. Athearn. “We want people to study it and learn more about it over the next few years. There’s no implementation until we do it all together.”

But the selectmen said firmly that they would not approve the plan without more information and discussion. “We’re not only asking you to slow down, we’re also offering you a way . . . to support this by getting more information out,” said Mr. Donaroma. “In the end, we’ll have a better plan.”

A public hearing on the plan was held at the commission last night. Another public hearing is set for next Thursday at 7:30 p.m., when the commission will be asked to adopt the plan.

“We’re anxious to sort of put this phase in the process behind us and start implementation,” said Mr. London by telephone on Tuesday. “The purpose of the meeting [Monday] was to hear the board’s comments on the content. We weren’t anticipating that they would ask us to change the process.”