BELLEVILLE, Wis. — Belleville is considering a zoning change aimed at preventing rows of nearly identical single-family homes, a debate that has become newly relevant in New Glarus as additional housing developments move toward the planning stage.

The revised Belleville proposal, called Architectural Diversity Standards for Residential Construction, would prohibit substantially similar single-family homes from being built next to one another and would limit substantially similar facades to no more than 25% of the homes on a block. On a cul-de-sac turnaround, no two homes could have substantially similar facades.

The ordinance is unusually explicit about why Belleville believes a new rule is needed. Its findings state that the village's current code contains no standard addressing similarity among the front elevations or facades of nearby homes. Belleville also says distinctive design can help protect neighborhood character and property values and make individual homes easier to identify.

The proposal does not prohibit a builder from reusing the same interior floor plan. Instead, it focuses on what can be seen from the street. Differences can include roof type or height, the shape of the front elevation, window placement, siding, garage-door placement, reverse elevations or housing style. A change in roof color alone would not qualify.