Not allowed to go back to their house on their own terms after an electrical fire, the former Phi Delta Theta fraternity chapter is asking for a court-ordered stay of the State College Zoning Hearing Board's decision that the property is a rooming house.
Attorney Bernie Cantorna scheduled a March 31 hearing with Judge David Grine, asking the judge to grant a stay -- essentially an injunction -- of the decision as he appeals the board's ruling. The stay is necessary for the 240 N. Burrowes Road residents to return home after being displaced by a February fire, Cantorna said.
"We need to get an inspection done," Cantorna said. But the Centre County Council of Governments won't let that happen until it gets a new permit, and that's where the trouble lies, he said.
That permit would have to be for a rooming house, handcuffing the property owners by reducing the number of residents the house can have, Cantorna said.
As a rooming house, the property would be able to operate only at 50 percent of its current maximum occupancy because of parking space requirements, Cantorna said.
"The house is not financially viable at 50 percent occupancy," Cantorna said.
The century-old house was home to the Phi Delta Theta fraternity from its construction until the chapter's alcohol-related suspension in December 2007.
The former Phi Delta Theta chapter later re-emerged as the Phi Society, unrecognized by Penn State, leading the borough to rule the property had become a rooming house.
According to ordinances, a fraternity house must be the residence of a Penn State-affiliated fraternity.
Cantorna appealed the zoning board's decision earlier this month. But before he did, an early morning electrical fire on Feb. 26 displaced about 25 residents living in the house. But now they are ready to move back in, which brings back the rooming house issue.
"We're just chasing our tail," Cantorna said. "And I still haven't caught my tail."
The property is also the subject of a lawsuit between Penn State and the fraternity house's owners. The university believes it has the right to purchase the property under the terms of its deed and has filed a lawsuit asking the court to transfer ownership to Penn State.
