It will soon be easier to own chickens and goats in the city.

By a vote of 7-3, the Denver City Council on Monday approved an ordinance change that eases restrictions and eliminates some of the paperwork now faced by would-be urban homesteaders.

Denver residents can already legally keep chickens, ducks and goats. The vote Monday changes the permitting process and makes it easier — and cheaper — to own the animals.

Currently, Denver residents have to complete a permit process that requires them to notify their neighbors of their intention to own the animals and to pay a one-time, $100 permit fee and $50 a year for chickens and $100 a year for livestock, such as goats.

Monday’s vote means that after the ordinance change takes effect, residents will pay only a one-time $20 license fee.

The license will allow them to keep up to eight chickens or ducks — but not roosters or drakes — and up to two dwarf goats without having to get a zoning permit or notify the public.

There were no men in chicken suits Monday evening testifying about the benefits of being able to own chickens as there had been in the past.

There were no elementary-school-aged children asking the City Council to approve the measure because the animals are cute.

Instead, a small contingent of urban homesteaders sat anxiously on the edge of their seats as council members debated the measure just one week after the council held a public hearing on the proposal.

Advocates, including some in the animal-control business, had argued that the change makes it easier to grow healthy food on a tight budget. Those who opposed the measure said that neighbors might be bothered by the presence of fowl and dwarf goats.

Sundari Kraft, an activist with Sustainable Food Denver, said Monday night that she was “just happy City Council listened.”

Kraft said the change demonstrates “common sense.”

Most City Council members didn’t argue those points, but a few said they worried that people who might oppose the change hadn’t heard it was being considered.

Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz, who represents District 2, was one of three who voted against the changes. Faatz said she worried that only pro-chicken activists had heard about the proposed changes.

She said she would have preferred to let residents vote on the issue. “It would have been an ideal situation to have people decide themselves,” she said.

Urban homesteading, the practice of raising chickens, goats and ducks in the city, is becoming increasingly common as people across the nation decide that raising animals at home can help save money, provide them with safe meat and assure that the animals are treated humanely.

A city attorney said Monday night that residents who oppose the measure could file a referendum petition within 90 days if they can get signatures from 5 percent of the people who voted in the last mayoral election.

Liz Navratil: 303-954-1054 or lnavratil@denverpost.com