When Cal Poly is in session, San Luis Obispo residents Kathie and Steve Walker brace for a lot of sleepless nights.
The Walkers moved to the Alta Vista neighborhood, a residential area adjacent to Cal Poly, 16 years ago. It used to be a lively neighborhood where students, faculty and other residents lived harmoniously together.
But in recent years, it’s become something akin to Cal Poly’s own Greek row, Kathie told The Tribune.
Within a two-block radius of their home, the Walkers can point out over a dozen houses they’ve witnessed host fraternity parties — all located within low-density zoning areas that don’t permit fraternity activity.
And from Thursday to Sunday, hundreds of screaming partygoers wander the streets to find the next hot spot as loud music and thumping bass reverberate through the neighborhood — sometimes until 3 or 4 in the morning.
For the Walkers, the pervasive noise emanating from the houses and streets is more than just a nuisance.
Some of the students are respectful and understanding of how the clash of lifestyles affects longtime residents, but others — often lubricated by alcohol — can be crude and hostile.
One evening in June, the Walkers’ security camera captured multiple partiers yelling slurs at their home from the street, and Kathie has experienced retaliation from fraternity members after reporting noise violations, she told The Tribune.
Steve, an EMS helicopter pilot, has had to take sick days at work after he’s been kept up by his unruly neighbors and has felt that he couldn’t safely do his job.
“We have nothing against Cal Poly students, but it’s the fraternities having events and operating as a full-fledged fraternity in the neighborhood with impunity, when they’re really not supposed to be here,” Steve said.
Kathie and Steve Walker alerted city officials to the presence of Cal Poly fraternities in their low-density San Luis Obispo neighborhood. Steve, an EMS pilot, has had to call in sick to work due to lack of sleep caused by the party noise.
And after over a year of tracking dozens of houses and presenting information to leaders at Cal Poly and City Hall with limited results, the Walkers are frustrated and concerned that the problem is headed for a point of no return.
SLO Code Enforcement recently investigated 17 locations reported as fraternities operating in low- or medium-density zones reserved for single-family homes, according to city officials. Two were found to be in violation.
This year, Code Enforcement opened 22 cases against fraternities found to be out of compliance with city code. Cases are closed after 30 days of no repeat violations, and reopened if another violation is discovered within a year.
“To my knowledge, we have issued one citation related to unpermitted fraternities in the last year,” Interim Deputy Building Official John Mezzapesa told The Tribune in an email.
Fraternities ‘creep’ into neighborhoods, residents say
The Walkers told The Tribune that they’ve always had student neighbors, but the appearance of fraternity parties in their neighborhood has been a new and gradual trend.
When their kids were young, the Walkers hosted a pumpkin-carving night with the Cal Poly students who lived across the street. They’ve invited their student neighbors over for barbecues before.
Even now, they text back and forth with a fraternity member who lives down the street, describing him as “a really sweet guy.”
But as fraternity membership has grown and Cal Poly has added more chapters to its roster, fraternity activity has begun to “creep” into neighborhoods where it isn’t legally allowed, causing strife among neighbors due to noise at all hours of the night, vandalism and even harassment, the Walkers said.
San Luis Obispo city code defines a fraternity as a “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.”
The city permits fraternities to operate in medium-high or high-density residential areas under R-3 and R-4 zoning codes.
In the areas adjacent to Cal Poly, R-3 and R-4 zoning areas include neighborhoods along Foothill Boulevard near California Boulevard. These zones include many apartment complexes and several permitted fraternity locations.
Fraternities are technically required to apply for conditional use permits (CUPs), which outline specific rules that the organizations must adhere to, including noise level and occupancy limits.
But only six of Cal Poly’s 18 fraternities currently have CUPs, according to the city — some without CUPS are at least located in the right zoning areas, while others are allegedly operating and partying in family neighborhoods, out of place and unpermitted.
In the area adjacent to Cal Poly, the family neighborhoods, or R-1 and R-2 zones, are located along Hathway Avenue and Slack Street down to Loomis Street, Fredericks Street and Stafford Street, according to the city’s Interactive Parcel Viewer. Fraternities are not permitted to host events in these areas.
Neighbors say fraternities have been operating illegally in family neighborhoods adjacent to Cal Poly. This map shows where the single-family neighborhoods (R-1 and R-2 zones) are located compared to the high-density areas (R-3 and R-4 zones) in the area adjacent to the university.
The Walkers gave The Tribune a tour of their neighborhood and pointed out what they said were more than a dozen fraternity operations within a three-block radius, calling them out by name. At some addresses, Greek letters and signage connecting a house to a specific fraternity were visible from the sidewalk.
In an attempt to confirm the locations as fraternities, The Tribune returned later to visit several of the houses.
The residents of three admitted to The Tribune that they were fraternity members. A resident at a fourth house said he and his roommates used to be fraternity members but aren’t anymore. The Tribune knocked on four additional doors and received no response.
The Tribune also reached out to Cal Poly’s Interfraternity Council leadership via email and Instagram but received no response.
The fraternity members who spoke with The Tribune said they want to be good neighbors — but they also want to be able to party like regular college students.
Members of Kappa Sigma told The Tribune that their house — located in the lowest-density (R-1) zoning area — has hosted parties and rush events over the past year, but they said they haven’t hosted any events within the last two months.
“In the past, yes, we have,” said Matt Hernandez, a resident of the house.
“We’ve had a pretty positive relationship with our neighbors,” Hernandez continued. He said the fraternity tries to communicate with neighbors prior to hosting events.
“Last year we lived on Stenner Street, and that was a lot different,” another resident said. “It was a lot more families and people that didn’t prefer a fraternity living next to them. That was definitely a lot more of a challenge to have social events. … We definitely could have probably made more of an effort to be a little quieter, but on Hathway it’s a lot more chill.”
Kappa Sigma signs can be seen from the sidewalk at one house located in a low-density zoning area of San Luis Obispo. Fraternities are not supposed to occupy homes in those areas.
Hernandez told The Tribune that his fraternity is becoming more aware of zoning compliance, and that he’s aware of some disparaging opinions about fraternities within the neighborhood.
“I totally understand. I think it’s totally a very, very valid point,” Hernandez said. “I think that something needs to be done for it to allow both sides to be happy in this situation. I don’t think we have obviously just a right to do whatever we want, there needs to be more checks. … I think definitely there needs to be something talked about on both sides to try to come to a compromise or else it’s just going to get worse and worse.”
Residents of another house told The Tribune they are members of Beta Theta Pi. They said they host some rush events, but not parties.
Resident Jimmy Lanctot told The Tribune that he thinks there is a lack of communication in the neighborhood. He said neighbors call the police even when his house is hosting small kickbacks with around 10 friends.
“I feel like there’s definitely a lack of respect there,” he said. “If you’re our neighbor and you have an issue with any noise that we’re making, please feel free to, like, contact us, knock on our door, communicate with us. It doesn’t need to go to the police every single time. We’re in the same community as you, and I feel like if we are to build general respect, then it starts with communication.”
The houses The Tribune spoke with and attempted to contact have been reported a collective 77 times for noise violations in the past year, according to data provided to The Tribune by the San Luis Obispo Police Department. That averages to about twice per weekend that school is in session.
‘Kill yourself’: Partiers harass and intimidate neighbors
The Walkers told The Tribune they’re past the point of trying to communicate with their noisy neighbors — they’ve already tried that.
After the Sigma Pi fraternity moved in next-door to the Walkers in 2022, they said, the fraternity regularly hosted parties on the weekends, blasting music for crowds of screaming students at all hours. The noise kept the Walkers up all night.
They tried texting, knocking on doors and even approaching fraternity members to ask them to keep it down. But nothing worked.
“When you ask them to keep it down once they’re drunk and belligerent, there’s no reasoning,” Steve Walker said.
About six months in, the couple reported a party to the police for the first time.
After that, they began experiencing harassment and cyberstalking, they told The Tribune.
In the following weeks, Kathie began receiving texts that she had been in contact with someone who had a sexually transmitted disease and her contact information was used to sign up for a PornHub account.
The Walkers’ address was advertised on Craigslist and was shared on Cal Poly’s Yik Yak, a college-centered social media app, as the site of a party, drawing people to their house in the early hours of the morning before St. Fratty’s Day, the most notorious of Cal Poly’s annual parties.
The Walkers suspected a member of Sigma Pi and reported the cyberstalking to the San Luis Obispo Police Department. The police launched an investigation into the report, but according to SLOPD spokesperson Christine Wallace, it stopped at the request of the Walkers.
Kathie denied that she or her husband made that request.
The Walkers also notified Cal Poly officials about the incidents, emails show. Sigma Pi was later named Brotherhood of the Year by the university’s Interfraternity Council.
The Walkers continued to experience harassment after the fraternity moved out in 2023.
The residential neighborhoods adjacent to Cal Poly are quiet during the off-season, but when classes resume, neighbors say the area becomes a central location for parties and fraternity activity.
Around 1 a.m. on June 2, a group of partygoers walking through the streets yelled insults at the Walkers’ house, security camera footage shows.
“Hey, Kathie Walker, get f—ed,” one yelled.
“F–k you, Kathie Walker,” another said.
“Hey, if your name’s Kathie Walker. You’re a b—h.”
“Suck my d—, b—h.”
“Big-t—ied, gray-haired s–t. Kill yourself.”
The Walkers have been told several times by intoxicated fraternity members that they “don’t belong” in the neighborhood and should move out of their home of 16 years, they said.
The behavior escalated to the point that the Walkers felt the need to install additional security cameras at their home.
“I was fearful that the next step was that I’d have a Molotov cocktail thrown through my window or something,” Kathie said.
The city looks to Cal Poly for help. Will the university answer?
SLO city officials have acknowledged the creep of fraternities into residential neighborhoods. But there are limits to the steps they can can take to reverse the problem, they say.
If an approved fraternity violates the terms of its permit, it risks getting the permit revoked by the SLO Planning Commission.
Cal Poly fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi, which has a legal location with a conditional use permit, recently went before the commission for a re-review of its CUP due to too many noise ordinance violations. The permit was upheld with stricter conditions.
Cal Poly’s Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity recently went before the San Luis Obispo Planning Commission for a re-review of its conditional use permit, after receiving too many noise violations.
But a noisy fraternity that doesn’t have a CUP doesn’t run that risk — they just have to pay the associated fines.
After their first warning, noise ordinance violators receive a $350 fine for their first citation, $700 for their second citation and $1,000 for subsequent violations, according to SLOPD.
A similar citation schedule is used to address zoning ordinance violations. If the city receives a report of a zoning violation, Code Enforcement launches an investigation, said Mezzapesa.
If the investigation turns up evidence, a notice of violation is sent to the property owner. If a repeat violation occurs within 12 months, Code Enforcement issues citations — $100 for the first, $500 for the second and $1,000 for subsequent violations.
But so far, the fines have not stopped fraternity activity in family neighborhoods.
Finding a solution to the problem is going to take effort on all sides, SLO Mayor Erica Stewart said. In some cases, the consequences that would result in change aren’t within the city’s purview — those decisions lie with Cal Poly.
But Cal Poly says it’s not responsible for regulating students in their private, off-campus residences.
“Where organizations might operate houses is a matter between the City of SLO and the property owners, residents and organizations,” said Cal Poly spokesperson Keegan Koberl in an email to The Tribune. “While the university has offered assistance in connecting city staff with the appropriate organization contacts to make progress on a resolution when concerns arise, the nature of these houses and the applicability of city restrictions is not within Cal Poly’s purview.”
Cal Poly requires Greek Life organizations to notify the university of their events and where they are located. Though the university says it doesn’t “approve or deny” parties, the information provided to the university would show if an event was being held in a low-density residential neighborhood.
At one time, Cal Poly provided public notice of event addresses, but the university now only provides the addresses of official chapter houses.
For neighbors, that makes it difficult to track down any satellite Greek houses.
“Cal Poly is strongly committed to continued work with the City of San Luis Obispo to address issues of concern in the neighborhoods,” Koberl told The Tribune. “As an active member of the community in which Cal Poly students, staff and faculty live and learn, the university is committed to being a good neighbor.”
Mayor Stewart expressed frustration with Cal Poly’s “hands-off” approach.
Stewart said she doesn’t know whether or not the university is simply taking no disciplinary action against students, or just not communicating it. Either way, the lack of transparency impacts the whole community, she added.
Stewart particularly expressed concerns about St. Fratty’s Day — Cal Poly’s annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Last year’s street party drew a crowd of over 6,000 to the residential streets near the university. The party resulted in scattered vandalism on and off campus.
Cal Poly students turned out early Saturday morning, March 16, 2024, for St. Fratty’s Day festivities on Hathway Avenue near the university. A San Luis Obispo Police Department officer at the scene of the party estimated between 6,000 and 7,000 people in attendance.
According to Stewart, Cal Poly built a task force to address the concerns around St. Fratty’s Day after the 2024 event’s escalation, but the university didn’t include anyone from the city on that task force until October, Stewart told The Tribune.
Videos: See damage to Cal Poly dorms after St. Patrick’s Day partying trashes campus
Stewart said she understands the challenges from the university’s perspective but hopes the two institutions can come together on a more joint approach to the problem.
“A stronger, swifter action from the university would make it so the students might take it more seriously,” Stewart told The Tribune. “We’ve made some major improvements in the last three to four years, and I don’t want to have to go back on that because Cal Poly doesn’t want to come to the table.”
Cal Poly Master Plan includes a Greek row. What’s the status?
One way to solve the problem would be to move Greek organizations onto campus, and Cal Poly’s Master Plan indeed envisions campus housing for student organizations, including fraternities and sororities, to solve town-and-gown issues arising from the community’s proximity to loud college parties.
“There may be significant benefits from providing specialized housing options for groups such as fraternities, sororities or other social or academic organizations,” the Master Plan reads. “This approach could resolve potential conflicts with student-occupied group housing off-campus, an ongoing concern of neighbors and the city.”
Kappa Sigma residents told The Tribune they’d support some type of on-campus Greek Life community.
“I think creating a Greek row where people would be able to have noise and live that type of atmospheric lifestyle that I think is disruptive in the neighborhoods, it’d be super helpful for both sides,” Hernandez said.
“Having a location where people are allowed to be loud and do what college kids do, that would be pretty cool for the school to incorporate,” said another resident. “Obviously, it’s hard, but it would definitely solve it.”
Some “illegal fraternities” are located in the area surrounding Fredericks Street and Hathway Avenue and host loud parties on the weekends, according to their San Luis Obispo neighbors.
The SLO Planning Commission also recently voiced the need for more on-campus options.
At a Dec. 11 meeting, commissioners approved a set of draft goals for 2025 through 2027. The list was revised from a previous meeting to include the management of fraternity and sorority activity as one of the commission’s main pillars.
The goal said that the commission will “encourage Cal Poly to build on-campus fraternity and sorority houses.”
Cal Poly told The Tribune that it’s “not realistic” to expect all members of Greek Life to live on campus.
“As new chapters continue to join the community, we do not expect to build a new house on campus for each organization,” Koberl said. “We also expect there are some organizations who are excited and willing to support an on-campus facility, and others who will not be ready to do so for a variety of reasons.”
As of now, Koberl told The Tribune, the timeline for a Greek row at Cal Poly is “unknown.”
In the meantime, noisy parties continue to plague family neighborhoods, and neighbors are left with few courses of action: attempt to communicate with their often intoxicated and belligerent student neighbors, call the police when warranted or simply wait the parties out.
For the Walkers, that non-solution is unsustainable.
The couple told The Tribune that without change, they’ll be forced to move out of their 16-year home.
They’ve already started renovations to prepare. And in all likelihood, Kathie said, a fraternity will move in right after them.