A showdown over who should have the most sway over new development in New York — the City Council or City Hall — has been brewing for months. But the Council may have found an edge: the Board of Elections, whose members are appointed by the Council, could decide to deny voters an opportunity to give the mayor more authority.

A push gaining steam among members of the elections board would prevent voters in November from weighing in on three ballot measures that would curtail the Council’s power over new development, according to two people familiar with the board’s conversations.

The measures, written by a special panel Mayor Eric Adams created last year, were designed to help ease the city’s housing shortage by diminishing an unofficial veto power that Council members hold over housing projects.

In a letter dated Aug. 28, the Council asked the 10 members of the board not to allow the measures to appear on the ballot, saying that their wording did not make it clear that Council members’ power was being reduced or eliminated.

Kathryn S. Wylde, a member of the mayor’s panel, said the board was trying to “abuse” its authority in order to “meddle in the substance of the proposals.” Ms. Wylde, the president and chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, said she had been told that some of the board members were wary of limiting the Council’s power.

The City Clerk certified the measures in early August, and the board must approve them by a Sept. 11 deadline — two days after its next meeting — to have them printed on the ballots in time for the election.