Radford City Council members said they don't understand why a full-fledged battle is mounting between the city and members of the Radford University Greek community over a zoning ordinance approved in May.

The ACLU is threatening legal action on behalf of a member of the Greek community, who has asked to remain anonymous.

"We were really trying to give the student organizations at Radford University a break," Councilman Dick Harshberger said.

Harshberger is referring to Section 120-239 of the zoning ordinance, which is new to city code this year. It states that Greek letters, banners and signs can only be displayed during special events, which are "limited to Radford University Homecoming, Rush and Greek Week." The location, size and type of sign must be approved by Radford University's Office of Student Affairs and the city's zoning administrator.

Previously, a "gentleman's agreement" between the city, the university and the Greek organizations said that the university would notify the city of special events so the city knew when to allow the Greek signs, City Attorney Jim Guynn said.

Other residents are typically not allowed to post special-event signs at their homes, council members said.

"I want to make sure that people know that this isn't any effort to be discriminatory to the students," Councilwoman Laurie Buchwald said. "We were formalizing an arrangement that has been in place for years that seemed to work satisfactorily for everyone concerned."

The key factor in the debate is that Greek houses are in residential areas, Buchwald said, as opposed to university-owned housing or a designated university district, in which the university rents property to someone else.

"I know that in my neighborhood, I don't want people putting signs in their yard all the time," she added.

Radford University doesn't have on-campus housing available for Greek organizations, Vice President of Student Affairs Norleen Pomerantz said.

"I think there's a lot of difference in our situation than with the typical area where there is a university district that has been designated," Pomerantz said. "Usually the campus owns the property and leases it to the chapters, or the chapters purchase their own and build their own house and they purchase them in a fairly distinct neighborhood, which can be asked to be rezoned as a university-owned district."

Pomerantz said the university doesn't have the property or funding to offer Greeks on-campus housing leases right now.

"Those in Greek organizations live on campus in our residence halls or in apartments," she said.

The apartments are rented in residential areas by individual students who are expected to follow the same rules as everyone else, Greek or non-Greek.

"If you go back to the original purpose that was laid out for the sign regulations, the general intent is to create uniformity and safeguards, to protect and enhance the visual environment and to minimize visual distractions for motorists," Councilman Bob Nicholson said.

"If you look at the intent from a broader perspective, it's not aimed at the Greek organization," he said. "The ordinance really affects everyone in the city."

If anything, the recently passed ordinance allows Greeks more privileges than the average resident, Harshberger said.

"We tried to distinguish with them, to give them some extra privilege," he said. "What the ACLU is saying is that once you give someone permission to do something, you have to give everyone permission to do something."

Council members are puzzled that a member of a Greek organization would file the ACLU complaint.

"What this particular student doesn't seem to realize is that it [the ordinance] was actually trying to do something to give them an exception, to allow them to do something," Buchwald said.

Negotiations are ongoing between Guynn and ACLU Virginia legal director Rebecca Glenberg, Guynn said.

Guynn has recommended that the city repeal the sign portion of the zoning ordinance. Council's next meeting is Monday, but an agenda for that meeting was unavailable.