The State College Borough Planning Commission was prepared to adopt an amendment to the Fraternity Zoning Ordinance on Thursday night, before deciding instead to tweak the wording further, following Zoning Officer Herman Slaybaugh's recommendation.
Commission member Ann Bolser motioned to adopt the State College Borough Council's amendment, which would allow the Interfraternity Council (IFC) more input into the official recognition of fraternities, she said.
Slaybaugh said the amendment was too narrow in its wording, because it only mentioned the IFC, rather than including organizations than overlooked sorority functions as well, like the Panhellenic Council.
"I think it's necessary to include groups for sororities as well," said Slaybaugh.
Commission members agreed with his concerns, deciding to put off a vote until the wording of the amendment could be reworked.
The commission also discussed a temporary-use provision that would allow fraternities to remain rooming houses if closed temporarily by the fraternity's national chapter.
The commission decided to request that staff members put together documents detailing their options, and pass the issue along to council. Commission Chairman Evan Myers said the provision would help a fraternity by preventing financial hardship.
"It's important to provide some relief for a fraternity to allow it to reorganize," said Myers.
Commission Vice Chairman Ron Madrid expressed concern that the provision could set an unwanted precedent for businesses that ran into financial trouble.
"Would we allow for a commercial enterprise to do the same thing?" Madrid said.
Bolser disagreed, saying a fraternity couldn't set a precedent for a commercial establishment.
"Fraternities are already considered special," Bolser said.
One concern the commission had was how to regulate fraternity members' behavior if they remain in the house after the national chapter folds.
Ed Sidwell, a member of the Lion Fraternity Alumni Association and alumnus of the Sigma Nu Fraternity, said that there were still means to remove members of the fraternity with bad behavior.
Although the commission made no decision on the provision, Myers suggested some criteria to guide further discussion. Any provision the commission agrees upon should allow the fraternity a maximum of two years to re-colonize, he said.
