An unrecognized fraternity may be forced to permanently vacate its on-campus house if the State College Borough Council passes a proposed ordinance barring rooming houses from campus.
At a State College Planning Commission meeting Wednesday, staff recommended clarifying two crucial zoning ordinances -- the zoning of fraternity houses on campus and the definition of a fraternity house.
These ordinances were proposed while litigation with the former Phi Delta Theta fraternity is underway. Penn State's former Phi Delta Theta chapter, 240 N. Burrowes Road, had its charter suspended in December 2007 and has since re-emerged as the Phi Society, unrecognized by the university.
The zoning board ruled last month that because the Phi Society is not affiliated with Penn State, its house would not be considered a fraternity house, but a rooming house. Under the proposed campus ordinance, the rooming house would be illegal.
Bernie Cantorna, an attorney representing the Phi Society, said the new ordinances are "plain wrong."
"It looks like the borough now decided that a group of fine young men like these boys that end up in a legitimate political dispute have no right to be on campus," Cantorna said.
The campus ordinance, among other things, would ban rooming houses from the list of designated uses allowed on campus. It also brings on-campus fraternities and several other plots under borough zoning standards, zoning officials said, giving them separate rules for setbacks, parking, open land and other zoning matters.
Under current conditions, these plots are subject to university zoning standards -- "an oversight," borough zoning officer Herman Slaybaugh said.
The commission passed on the campus ordinance to borough council for discussion, voting and enactment. Borough Council President Elizabeth Goreham said she would not vote against the ordinance.
"It's unfortunate that it is coming at a time when this is a bone of contention," Goreham said. "It seems consistent with our ordinances throughout the borough."
The other proposed ordinance, held for further clarification by the commission, explains what the borough means by "university-recognized" when the new ordinance refers to a "university-recognized fraternity." The borough's new definition specifies a fraternity must be recognized by the Office of Fraternity and Sorority life or "by other designee as determined by the university," according to the proposed definition ordinance.
The fraternity ordinance further clarified the definition of a fraternity house. The definition says for a house with "only one kitchen and where residents sleep in individual bedrooms" to be a fraternity, it must house residents who are "students of Penn State University and are members of a university-recognized fraternity or sorority" according to the proposed definition ordinance.
Now, residents would need to be both students "and" members of a university-recognized fraternity for the property to be a fraternity house. The current ordinance reads "or," Slaybaugh said. The borough currently interprets that "or" to mean "and," Slaybaugh said.
Slaybaugh's move to clarify the definition of a fraternity house comes seven years after previous litigation. In a memo, Slaybaugh cited a 2002 court case when the Interfraternity Council suspended Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 200 E. Beaver Ave., and the borough declared the fraternity house an illegal rooming house because it did not have recognition from Penn State, according to the memo.
In a footnote, the courts had pointed out the ambiguity of the ordinance, prompting amendments to the ordinance on Wednesday, Slaybaugh said.
