The San Luis Obispo City Council found middle ground while scanning a greenlit permit for a proposed fraternity that was appealed by a group of residents.
“I’m happy that the fraternity is held to the same standard as everyone in our neighborhood and is not allowed to hold large, amplified events that violate the noise ordinance,” Residents for Quality Neighborhoods (RQN) member Kathie Walker told New Times after the Oct. 15 appeal hearing. “They can still have those parties but hold them at a third-party venue.”
Walker attended the meeting with RQN Chairperson Sandra Rowley, who filed the original appeal of the Planning Commission’s permit approval for Lamba Chi Alpha to set up a four-building fraternity for 24 Cal Poly students at East Foothill Boulevard and Monte Vista Place.
“Although we support a conditional use permit, … we are appealing this decision because we do not concur … that the current conditions are sufficient to adequately address that the use will not be detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of persons living or working in the area,” Rowley wrote in her appeal form.
The findings she’s referring to claim that the fraternity will not be harmful to the general public because the project includes conditions like limiting the number of people allowed on-site, providing adequate parking, and limiting potential disturbances to neighbors.
RQN asked for more conditions on the permit to better regulate how fraternities operate within residential neighborhoods. In the appeal, RQN requested that the city not require written complaints so that the reporting party can remain anonymous. The group also asked for reported violations to be accumulated against a parcel instead of individual fraternity addresses.
Moreover, it asked to revise a condition that lifts noise limits for fraternities if they have written approval from Community Development Director Timothea Tway for special events. RQN wanted to restrict the number of people on the premises to only residents between the quiet hours of 10 p.m. and 9 a.m., similar to what’s been placed on conditional use permits given to fraternities in the past.
Tway announced the removal of the special events approval loophole at the appeal hearing.
“Just across the board, you cannot violate the noise ordinance. So we would add that,” she said.
While the city approved the permit for the proposed fraternity, it added another condition to prevent rowdy behavior.
Now, the permit will be scrutinized by the Planning Commission as soon as practical if the fraternity racks up three citations within any 12-month period.
City staff will also notify Cal Poly if the permit is ultimately revoked, something City Councilmember Michelle Shoresman said she appreciated.
“I just want to make sure that we are attempting to utilize the resources and authority that Cal Poly has to help us with this issue,” she said. “As other council members have mentioned, I, too, am frustrated with feeling like this all falls on us.”
RQN’s Walker told New Times she’s glad the city wants to solve the problem of the accountability gap.
“Hopefully, Cal Poly explores the idea of providing a venue on campus for their Greek life organizations for parties with 100 or more people, especially at night,” Walker said. Δ
This article appears in Oct 17-27, 2024.