The Gloucester County Planning Commission will meet at 7:30 p.m. next Thursday, May 7, in the colonial courthouse. A public hearing is scheduled to consider a proposed change to the zoning ordinance related to garage apartments and cottages.

Anne Ducey-Ortiz, director of planning and zoning, said that the proposed ordinance change removes the cap of 1,200 square feet for an accessory apartment or accessory dwelling and allows such dwelling units to be 800 square feet or 35 percent of the principal dwelling unit located on a lot less than two acres and 49 percent of the principal dwelling unit located on a lot of two or more acres.

Commission chair Louis E. Serio said the proposed ordinance further defines gross floor area and defines and specifies gross living area to be used when calculating the square footage of the accessory dwelling unit for purposes of determining compliance with the 35 percent requirement.

Overall, Serio said the footprint for the detached accessory building s...