I read the link, and it says that it's a myth, but doesn't really explain why you find fraternity houses in so many areas and not sorority houses, which was my question.
The link you posted did have one bit of incorrect information:
That building or buying a fraternity or sorority house is always an exception with city ordinances...this is 100% not true.
Cities generally (and these are very broad catagories) have 3 types of zoning: Multi-family, Single Family Residential and Business. Frat houses are always zoned multi-family...not business.
You can have a residential property in an area zoned business, but not the other way around because it interferes with the "quiet enjoyment" of the neighbors...that is why you see the Greek houses located on property that has been leased from or owned by the colleges, because they are zoned business.
At ETSU, what happened there in 1987 to 1990, is the city decided they were going to get rid of the frat houses....they sent a city inspector in to look for fire and building violations, and wrote them up on everything they could. They gave them 6 months to correct the violations or the city was going to condemn the property....all was very legal.
That left the brothers scrambling to raise money for repairs and calling alumnae for help...they were able to raise the money, met the deadline and kept their houses.
In retaliation, and from pressure from the neighbors, because this action didn't get rid of them...the city did the next best thing they could legally do...revoked the variance that had been granted and rezoned the property single-family residential...this meant that the frat houses could continue to operate under legal-non-conforming (also commonly called grandfathered) ...this also means something else: If the house burns down past the fame, the city can deny them a permit to rebuild and use the house as they did before. This will force the fraternity to sell the property.
This is also 100% legal and done by city planning all the time. Also, if the house ever shuts down or changes hands (being sold from one frat to another if one folds), they can't do that either...b/c the city won't extend the zoning to the property transfer. The only way around it is for the new frat to lease the property from the old frat....but they can't buy it because that is legally a property transfer.
There is one frat on campus that has no house, and they'll never be able to get one unless the college has property that they will let them build one on.
