FULLERTON : Members Vacate 2 Fraternity Houses

Members of two Cal State Fullerton fraternities packed books, stereos and other possessions into cars and moving vans Friday to comply with a city order that they vacate their houses until the structures are repaired.

After the Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Pi fraternities lost requests in February for permits to operate fraternity houses in a residential area, Fullerton officials ordered members to move out while the houses are brought up to city building code.

The city ordered the houses emptied by Friday after the City Council denied conditional-use permits for the fraternities because of complaints from neighbors and police stemming from raucous parties.

“It’s a major inconvenience for all of us who live here,” said Jim Hudson, 21, Sigma Pi house manager and one of 18 residents of the house.

The city has ordered the houses to remain vacant until they are restored to four-unit apartments. The fraternity houses sit across the street from each other on Teri Place in a residential neighborhood near several other fraternity houses.

The Greek letters on the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house were removed last week and most members have found temporary shelter with friends or relatives, said fraternity member Greg Simonian, 20. The fraternity will be working with the owner to bring the apartment building up to code, he said.

“It’s hurting us, giving us 30 days notice and saying pack up your bags and go study and live somewhere else,” Simonian said. “And we have finals coming up.”

Once the work is complete on the houses, fraternity members may move back in--as long as fraternity activities don’t take place inside, city officials have said.

Both fraternities have said members plan to move back into the houses as ordinary renters and hold fraternity activities elsewhere.

“The goal when we lost the (permits) was not only to cooperate with the city but to behave and not throw parties,” Simonian said.

City law allows the fraternities to reapply for permits in August, and officers of both said they plan to reapply.