This letter is in response to Denise Alexander's response to my first letter concerning the historic ordinance.

I never said this ordinance would make it impossible or nearly impossible for our fraternity to carry out our plans. I said those plans could, and most likely would, be greatly delayed. As she said, a review board must OK any renovations and additions. That means that an architect must come in and draw plans that fit the board's idea of appropriateness, and then we would have to submit it to the review board.

Depending on the current alignment of the planets, the weather in Tanzania or their current mood, it could be tabled indefinitely or even rejected.

The three years I mentioned in my letter isn't how long the renovations would take; it is the timeframe in which we would like to have them finished by. If we were to start two-and-a-half years from now, the ordinance would still affect us, as would this additional bureaucratic process.

I agree as well that historic buildings should be preserved, although I fail to see where the antiquity of my house raises any kind of notable revenue through tourism.

This ordinance comes across to me as the town board's way of trying to prevent the expansion of student housing. Nobody is talking about renovating The Tavern; as a matter of fact I don't think College or Beaver avenues would be affected by this ordinance.

Finally, I would like to explain how our renovation brings money into the community.

Using the aforementioned budget, we must first hire an architect to draw up plans for our addition. Then, we must hire a general contractor who would then hire out contractors, such as electricians and framers who live and work in State College, to actually do the labor hours, because the tooth fairy doesn't have a cousin that magically makes additions appear if you plant money into the ground.

These people, whom we are paying to do the work, would then turn around and use it to buy groceries from stores, take their families to doctors and eat out at any of our numerous restaurants. None of that happens if some board decides it's not "historic enough" for us to add a library and porch to our property.