Illegal Fraternity Houses

Illegal Fraternity Houses

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Fraternity Houses

There are 19 fraternities in Cal Poly’s Interfraternity Council and each has a main chapter house. Many fraternities also have multiple “satellite” houses in the neighborhoods that operate as full-blown fraternities and hold fraternity events and parties. The City’s laws prohibit fraternities, including satellite houses, from operating in R-1 and R-2 neighborhoods. Fraternities are only allowed in R-3 and R-4 zones with a conditional use permit issued by the Planning Commission. The permit outlines various conditions for their use so that they fit in with the surrounding area. These conditions could be things like limitations on occupancy, hours of operation, or not allowing the City’s Noise Ordinance to be violated.

Of the 19 fraternities in Cal Poly’s IFC, only 7 have conditional use permits. This is discussed further in “What Defines a Fraternity House?” below. First, let’s look at the history of illegal fraternity chapter and satellite houses in the City.

Fraternity Pledge, Carson Starkey’s Death & the Deferred Recruitment Compromise

Satellite fraternity houses made headlines when Cal Poly student Carson Starkey died of alcohol poisoning during fraternity-related hazing at an illegal satellite fraternity house in San Luis Obispo, CA. Carson was among pledges who were ordered by Sigma Alpha Epsilon leaders to drink large quantities of alcohol in a matter of minutes – some of whom were encouraged to vomit and keep drinking. His blood-alcohol level was 0.40, or about five times the legal limit, according to court testimony.

Cal Poly considered eliminating fraternities after Carson died. Instead, Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong, implemented a deferred rush policy in 2010, which put a 3-month pause on freshmen joining fraternities. They had to wait until the winter quarter to join instead of pledging in the fall quarter.

Soon after the deferred recruitment policy was announced, representatives from the North American InterFraternity Conference, representing 75 national fraternities, visited Cal Poly to meet with administrators and spurred a three-year campaign to restore recruitment of freshman fraternity members in the fall.

In 2013, President Armstrong entered into an agreement called the Deferred Recruitment Compromise with Cal Poly’s Greek leaders and Vice President for Student Affairs, Keith Humphrey. The Compromise made commitments for Cal Poly’s Greek Community and Cal Poly’s Administration, including:

• Fall 2013: Cal Poly will eliminate deferred recruitment for all Chapters.
• Fall 2013: Fraternities will have more opportunities for students to visit Chapters and potentially receive a bid to join a fraternity. (Applicable to Fraternities only)
• Fall 2013: Cal Poly will work with the North American Interfraternity Conference to recruit more Chapters to campus. (Applicable to Fraternities only)
• Winter 2013: Interim Policy regarding a Party Registration Policy for Greek life – including satellite houses- and alcohol management.
• Fall 2014: Final policy for a Party Registration Policy for Greek life.
• Fall 2014: Greek Row – Committed to beginning an early discussion regarding the feasibility of an on-campus Greek Row.
• Fall 2014: Cal Poly will work with the Chancellor’s Office to explore Greek housing regulations.

Party Registration Policy & Guidelines

Cal Poly published its Party Registration and Policy and Guidelines for Cal Poly’s Greek life in 2014. This policy defines “a party” and mandates that all off-campus parties be held at the Chapter facility, registered satellite house, or a third-party venue. The policy also says that parties must be registered with Cal Poly Greek Life, including the location of the event and the number of guests expected.

Since at least 2014, Cal Poly has known the locations of their fraternity houses throughout the neighborhoods in San Luis Obispo because fraternities have been registering their parties with the Greek Life office ahead of time. Many of these parties have 100 guests or more. That information was not necessarily shared with the City of San Luis Obispo but the Police Department resources are constantly used to respond to these large, noisy fraternity parties. SLOPD dispatches two police units to every noise call “for officers’ safety”, according to the Police Chief. SLOPD responds to over 1,500 noise calls every year. Many of these calls are at the 80+ fraternity houses, including main Chapters and satellite houses in the City.

What Defines a Fraternity House?

Cal Poly’s definition vs. San Luis Obispo’s definition

Cal Poly’s Party Registration Policy does not specifically define a “Chapter facility” but it does define “a satellite house” as “any residence where the majority of occupants are members of the chapter for this policy.” So if some fraternity brothers rent a house together in any neighborhood, they can register their house with Cal Poly Greek Life’s office and host fraternity parties at their house.

Most of the main “Chapter facilities” for Cal Poly’s fraternities are rental houses, not owned by the fraternity corporation, and are located in R-1 and R-2 neighborhoods. Nearly all fraternity “satellite houses” are rental homes in residential neighborhoods.

Cal Poly’s definition of a “fraternity” is different from San Luis Obispo’s definition.

The San Luis Obispo Municipal Code (SLOMC) doesn’t distinguish between a Chapter facility and a satellite house. Chapter 17.156, Land Use Definitions defines Fraternities and Sororities as:

“Residence for college or university students who are members of a social or educational association that is affiliated and in good standing with the California Polytechnic State University and where such an association also holds meetings or gatherings.”

Fraternities and Sororities are only allowed in R-3 and R-4 zones with a conditional use permit (CUP) approved by the Planning Commission. The CUP regulates the use of the property by applying conditions. If the conditions of the CUP are not followed, the fraternity can lose its permit to operate.

As mentioned, only 7 of the 19 fraternities at Cal Poly have conditional use permits. Their locations are shown on the map below. (Edit: Alpha Gamma Rho lost its conditional use permit because it was suspended by Cal Poly, therefore must apply for a new conditional use permit when it is reinstated in Fall 2025.)

Illegal Fraternity Houses

In the 2022-2023 academic school year, 50 illegal fraternity houses – some main chapter houses and some satellite houses – were operating in the R-1 and R-2 Alta Vista and Monterey Heights neighborhoods and over 60 illegal fraternity houses city-wide holding fraternity-related events and parties. The addresses were identified by posted events on social media, such as rush, and cross-referenced with Cal Poly’s Report which was mandated by Assembly Bill 524: The Campus-Recognized Sorority and Transparency Act. A list of the addresses of documented fraternity houses was provided to the City of San Luis Obispo leadership.

These events should take place at permitted fraternity houses in R-3 and R-4 residential zones of the city or third-party venues, but they don’t, with little to no consequences. Would this happen in other R-1 or R-2 residential areas of the city? Would this happen in the neighborhood where the City Manager lives? Or the Police Chief? Would enforcement be different in the Ferrini Heights neighborhood? Or the Arbors neighborhood? Or the Sinsheimer neighborhood?

The former mayor, Jan Marx, lived in the Alta Vista neighborhood for over 30 years. I remember her talking about the idea of putting an elevator in her house because she and her husband planned to retire there. But like many other long-term residents, she gave up and ended up leaving. You can see her former property address at 265 Albert Drive, below, surrounded by illegal fraternity houses.

Cal Poly’s Commitment

One of Cal Poly’s commitments in the Deferred Recruitment Compromise was to work with the North American Interfraternity Conference to recruit more fraternity Chapters to campus, and they have done that. However, without a Greek Row or other housing for their fraternities or sororities, the burden of housing fraternity houses is on the City, and neighborhoods are forced to endure the negative impacts of the increased Greek membership, their main Chapter houses and satellite houses, with fraternity parties and events.

Continued Expansion

A handful of documented illegal fraternity houses in our neighborhood are shown below. The addresses of these fraternity houses and many more are on the list provided to City leadership in the fall 2023. The addresses were identified as holding fraternity events, such as rush and other parties, and also in Cal Poly’s Report mandated by Assembly Bill 524: The Campus-Recognized Sorority and Fraternity Transparency Act.