Owners of small lots can start building on them without worry.

A 10-month debate about whether the city would continue to allow construction on so-called substandard lots of record was settled Monday.

Previously, the city had allowed building on lots smaller than the current 7,500-square-foot minimum, if the lots had been subdivided before that standard was put in place.

After receiving complaints about homes built on those lots ruining the look of neighborhoods, the City Council proposed removing the provision that allowed building on small lots, retroactive to February.

However, in response to the proposal, owners of the small lots came out to City Council and Planning Board meetings in droves, saying they had invested in the lots with the intent of building on them.

The councilors and the Planning Board then developed and implemented design standards for building on small lots, so that it could to continue to be allowed, but wouldn’t destroy the character of the surrounding neighborhoods.

The new standards 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.

On Monday, the City Council voted 3-2, with Councilors John O’Hara and Drew Gattine opposed and Councilor Dotty Aube absent, to postpone the proposal indefinitely, effectively killing it.

Though Gattine and O’Hara were not in favor of removing the ability to build on small lots, they said they would have preferred to have an up or down vote, which they felt would bring more closure to the issue.