A debate about new design standards for homes built on small lots could be reignited Monday at a public hearing in front the City Council.

The city took up the issues of setting new standards for homes on small lots after councilors received complaints that homes being built on so-called substandard lots of record were destroying the character of neighborhoods.

By ordinance, the city requires homes to be built on 7,500-square-foot lots in the Residential Growth Area 1, which generally applies to the downtown area. However, the city has allowed homes to be built on 5,000-square-foot lots, if they were subdivided before the new lot minimum was adopted.

Originally, councilors proposed not allowing homes to be built at all on the small lots. However, owners of those lots came out in droves to meetings earlier this year to argue that they bought the lots with the intention of building on them, and prohibiting that would render the lots useless.

In response, the Council referred to the Planning Board to develop design standards so that the lots could remain buildable but wouldn’t ruin the look of neighborhoods.

The proposed new standards, developed by city staff and recommended to the Council by the Planning Board in September, would require houses to be set farther back from the front and rear of the lot, porches to be built facing the street, the height of the house to match the average of those in the neighborhood, the pitch of the roof to match those on abutting properties and at least one tree to be planted on the property.

The City Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed design standards at 7 p.m. Monday in Room 114 at Westbrook High School.