If the new Miami 21 zoning code passes city commission muster this week, it's goodbye to the so-called ``snout-house,'' and maybe even curtains for the much-reviled McMansion, too.

And say hello to the town house.

The proposed new code -- up for a final vote at the city commission on Thursday -- could extensively alter the shape of new-home construction within city limits, an element that has been overshadowed by heated debates focused mostly on Miami 21's effects on high-rise, mixed-use and commercial development.

When it comes to residential areas, city planners say, Miami 21's objective is analogous to the code's goals in commercial corridors: To replace the present code's auto-centric emphasis with a sidewalk-friendly template that fosters walkability, greening and neighborhood cohesion.

``The new code is more in the spirit of the old houses in Little Havana and Coral Gables,'' said Ana Alvarez, whose Miami firm, Martinez & Alvarez Architecture, designed three prototypes of Miami 21 homes for the city. ``You have more opportunity to do nice houses.''

That doesn't mean residents will be forced to change anything about their homes. Although many existing homes would not conform to the new zoning rules, Miami 21 allows their identical rebuilding on site -- if destroyed by fire, for instance -- so long as they were legally built in the first place.

But Miami 21 would not allow expansion of any nonconforming elements of a house -- say, a carport that encroaches into a setback -- without a special waiver. Those nonconforming elements could remain as is. But any additions to existing homes -- as well as a new home -- would have to follow the new rules. ``We've made it as flexible as possible,'' said Dakota Hendon, a city planner. ``We don't want to put an economic burden on anyone.''

The new code starts by banning a design that has been cropping up in single-family and duplex neighborhoods across the city: the suburban-style home with facades dominated by protruding garages, derisively called ``snouts'' by critics who say they create a forbidding presence on the street.

Miami 21 would require that garages and carports sit even with or behind a home's facade, and take up no more than 30 percent of the house front.

The code would also cut down the bulk of lot-filling McMansions, which can disrupt the historic scale of homes in older, established neighborhoods.

Miami 21 would not sharply reduce buildable space. But it would limit the footprint of homes to 50 percent of the lot and require that the second story be smaller than the first. That would introduce architectural variation, preserve open space around the large homes and reduce their often-overwhelming effect on smaller neighbors, planners say.

``Our hope is that you would no longer have that second story looming over the neighbors,'' Hendon said.

Miami 21 also would reintroduce traditional features and house designs effectively precluded by current rules: front porches, town houses, and single-family homes with outbuildings, such as a detached garage at the rear of the property topped by a ``granny flat.''

The new zoning would allow town houses in dense portions of Little Havana and on some side streets along Coral Way and Southwest 27th Avenue.

It also would permit single-file parking in driveways, and narrow the width for side-by-side parking. That narrower parking arrangement allows planting of more curbside trees by the city and reduces the width of pedestrian-unfriendly driveways, planners say. The code also requires the planting of at least one shade tree in the front yard.

``I think it increases pedestrian appeal with active facades, porches and a front door that is really a front door,'' said Alvarez, the architect.

Not everyone agrees. Some architects critical of what they contend are Miami 21's restrictive prescriptions for large buildings say the same applies to the code's rules for homes.

Kricket Snow, who works for Miami architect Bernard Zyscovich, a leading critic of Miami 21, said the rules for single-family homes unduly limit design flexibility. The current code doesn't limit a home's footprint beyond setbacks, allowing homes sited at an angle to take advantage of breezes or shield them from the sun, for instance. That would not be possible under Miami 21, she said.

Moreover, Snow said, Miami 21 would result in similar homes being built across the city, without consideration of distinct neighborhood characteristics.

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