Selectmen decided not to vote on a request that would have protected land from development on Allen’s Point Road Tuesday night.

“I think the benefit to the applicant outweighs the benefit to the public by just too much,” Selectman Stephen Cushing said. “The scale is just tipped to far in favor of the applicant.”

With the restriction in place, the town was expected to lose $20,000 in tax revenue, according to the assessor’s office.

The land is composed of two, 1.5-acre adjoining lots at 105 Allen’s Point Road owned by Doug Watson and his siblings.

One parcel is the site of small house that would eventually be torn down. The second parcel abuts Sippican harbor and the Pierson Woods conservation land.

Watson had asked Selectmen to place a “conservation restriction” on the property. The designation permanently restricts development of private property by transferring rights from the landowner to a nonprofit or land trust.

The request was brought before the board last week. Board members said more information was needed to make a decision.

On Tuesday, additional tax information was available to board members and the minutes from an Open Space Acquisition Commission meeting where members voted to support the conservation restriction.

If approved, the land would have been transferred to an abutting neighbor while the restriction would have been held by the Wildlands Trust, a nonprofit that protects land in southeastern Massachusetts.

Because of the site’s small size and thick underbrush, the area isn’t a good candidate for public walking trails. Selectmen said that was the primary reason for not approving the restriction.

Speaking on behalf of the applicant, Mark Robinson, executive director of the Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts, Inc., said landowners had the right to not only develop land, but also to preserve it.

“I’m not sure what you’re encouraging with this lack of action except to provoke a chilling effect,” Robinson said.