The Gloucester Planning Commission decided Dec. 4 to schedule a public hearing in early February regarding a code amendment to allow the keeping of chickens in the Single Family (SF-1) zoning district.

Planner Tripp Little said that chickens are popping up more often in many areas, possibly a response to the increasing fresh and local consumer habits. Gloucester is no exception, as Little said the county supervisors have asked the commission to study the chicken situation here.

“Currently, keeping chickens for personal enjoyment is allowed in all the other single-family residential districts,” Anne Ducey-Ortiz, Gloucester’s director of planning and zoning, said.

Little said that the term “urban chicken” is not only the name of a restaurant chain, but also the trend of more families raising chickens on their properties. The SF-1 designation includes Gloucester Point, Hayes, Clay Bank, Allmondsville and Gloucester Court House, he said.

County planners wa...