Oak Park residents can look up their address online and see exactly how the village's proposed zoning rewrite would change the rules for their property.

The Village of Oak Park launched a Zoning Comparison Tool as part of its Shape Oak Park initiative, which aims to update the village's zoning code to allow "missing middle housing" such as duplexes, townhomes and small-scale multi-unit buildings. Residents can enter their address or property identification number to get a side-by-side comparison of existing and proposed zoning standards. The tool also lets users submit feedback directly from their property's page.

Postcards alerting residents to the project went out to all Oak Park households on Friday, Aug. 28, according to the Village Manager's weekly report. Every household got one. The report said postcards should reach mailboxes "within the next few days."

The mailing is part of a broader push to get residents engaged before the proposals go to the Plan Commission. Development Services Director Craig Failor told the Village Board on July 14 that the village was building the comparison tool so property owners could see how zoning changes might affect them, the Wednesday Journal reported. Consultant Opticos Design, hired to recommend changes to Oak Park's zoning code, developed the tool alongside village staff.

"Single-family homes in Oak Park stay, and homeowners keep the right to live in, to sell, to expand, and to rebuild their homes just as they can today," Marisa Schulz, a principal at the urban planning collective All Together, said at the July 28 Village Board meeting, as the Wednesday Journal reported. Trustees unanimously referred the zoning proposal to the Plan Commission that night.

The village has stressed that the recommendations are not final. Staff and the consultant team plan to keep refining them based on trustee feedback and community input. The final zoning changes are scheduled to be presented to the Plan Commission in October.

Residents who want more detail on the project or upcoming community sessions can visit the Shape Oak Park project page.