Naperville city councilmen have given final approval to a plan they hatched last month regulating chicken ownership.

Residents raising chickens will be limited to eight fowl and will not be allowed to have roosters, under the new rules. Chicken coops also must be kept 30 feet away from any neighboring home instead of the current 25 feet.

In recent months several residents in the Naper Carriage Hill subdivision told councilmen the chickens owned by their neighbor, David Laird, cause issues with noise, smells and sanitation and decrease property values.

In January, Laird told the council he had reduced his chickens to 12 from 20 and put up screens and bushes around them, but a split council gave preliminary approval to additional restrictions. Those in favor said they wanted to find a balanced between Laird’s rights and that of his neighbors while those in opposition said the city was over-regulating the issue.

Tuesday, the council heard from the Kemner family which lives in an unincorporated area just outside Naperville and has been raising chickens for 10 years.

Laura Kemner said she was skeptical of her husband’s desire to raise chickens, but the experience has been eye-opening.

“I’ve learned a lot about chickens and I’ve seen the physically and emotionally healthy experience it’s been for my husband, what an education and source of fun it’s been for our children and what a positive fascination it’s been for our neighbors and friends,” Kemner said.

Councilmen stuck to the preliminary votes they made last month with Judy Brodhead, Bob Fieseler, Steve Chirico, Paul Hinterlong, Joe McElroy and Mayor George Pradel giving approval to the restrictions while Doug Krause, Kenn Miller and Grant Wehrli voted no.

 mjenco@tribune.com