Almost all of UC Berkeley's fraternities were the subject of letters sent to Berkeley City Manager Phil Kamlarz on Tuesday alleging they create public nuisances.

The letters, sent from the law offices of Paul L. Kranz, were on behalf of a "number of residents" from the city of Berkeley, the letter said.

Thirty fraternities were alleged to be nuisances, as well as four unrecognized chapters­-Alpha Xi Omega, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Lambda Phi Epsilon and Sigma Phi. Only six fraternities were not listed.

The letter categorizes the alleged nuisances into 17 types, including "regular, frequent and continuing disturbances of the peace," "public drunkenness," "encouragement and facilitation of underage drinking," and "shooting projectiles which have hit neighbors and could possibly cause great bodily injury."

In an e-mail, Grahaeme Hesp, director of fraternity and sorority life, said the letter "requested the city take action under Berkeley Municipal Code."

The city now has 30 days in which to take action against the fraternities, said City Attorney Zach Cowan.

"The only thing the city can do is to initiate its own proceedings," he said. "Under the zoning ordinance, the city can initiate nuisance abatement or revocation hearings in front of the Zoning Board."

According to Cowan, the staff may conduct an investigation to determine if there is a basis for the hearings and then write a staff report, which would be followed by public notice of the hearing.

If the city decides the fraternities are, in fact, a nuisance, they can impose additional conditions on the properties, Cowan said.

"The city also has the authority, if the facts warrant, to terminate the use," he said. "(The city could) say, 'Sorry, you can't have a fraternity any more.' In theory, there is the authority for that."

Although it has not been determined if each fraternity would have its own hearing, or if all 34 fraternities would share a hearing together, Cowan said the former is more desirable.

"You can't assume that each fraternity is identical," he said. "You'd want to keep them separate in your mind so you know what you want to do for each one."

According to the letter, if the City Manager's Office does not take action within the 30 days allotted, the plaintiffs "intend to avail (themselves) of the alternate remedies."

This might include pursing "private action for injunctive and compensatory relief," Hesp said in an e-mail.

He said in the e-mail that the university is not involved in the correspondence between the plaintiffs and the fraternities.

"This e-mail is simply to ensure that all interfraternal partners are aware of recent developments," he said in the e-mail.

Cowan said he does not think the complaints will create tension between the city and the campus.

"I don't know why it would have any effect or tarnish the relationship because it's just what someone's saying (who is) neither from the university or the city."

Tags: FRATERNITIES, CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE