Athens, Georgia Residents Don’t Want a Fraternity House in Their Neighborhood

Rob Fox12 years ago

The residents of North Milledge Avenue in Athens, Georgia aren’t too happy with the prospect of Sigma Chi building a new house in their neighborhood. I mean, I don’t see what the big deal about a fraternity house moving onto your block is. Sure sometimes fraternities throw crazy parties, and yes the house may sometimes stick out, and granted there’s always the risk that it will burn to the ground and possibly take the neighborhood with it, but so what? Can’t you guys like, just be cool about this? What if they promised to have the pledges clean your homes once a week?

Unfortunately it appears that the neighborhood is not going to budge on the issue. They’ve lawyered up and plan on doing everything in their power to prevent Sigma Chi from moving in.

Sigma Chi is seeking Athens-Clarke County approval to build a 17-bedroom house in the Cobbham historic district.

“Stable neighborhoods are very important to this community. Long time Athens residents have spent decades rebuilding our traditional family-oriented in-town neighborhoods,” Cobbham resident Clint McCrory said in an email to the neighborhood association. “A fraternity house in this location would turn this progress back toward undergraduate student rentals, increasing temporary transient occupancies rather than permanent residents.”

Cobbam residents and residents of the nearby, historically black Reese Street and Hancock Corridor neighborhoods, where the Confederate-themed fraternity Kappa Alpha built a house in 2006, are working together and have hired an attorney to fight Sigma Chi, McCrory said.

It looks like this is at least going to be tied up for a little bit considering Sigma Chi still has to seek county approval and obtain a couple of permits. For now the Cobbham residents would rather have an empty lot, which Sigma Chi has already purchased. My advice to Sigma Chi is to start a new philanthropy that helps out the homeless and set up a hobo tent city on the empty lot. Then keep it there until the people of Cobbham can’t take it anymore. Problem solved.

• [via Athens Banner Herald]