TROY — The city Zoning Board of Appeals voted 5-0 Tuesday night to grant a variance to transform the historic First Baptist Church building into a fraternity house.

Phi Gamma Delta's Tau Nu chapter cleared its first hurdle in undertaking its proposal to renovate the church at 82 Third St. and its attached three-story school building.

"It's very exciting," said Benjamin Pringle, president of the chapter at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Red Griffin, the attorney representing the chapter, said this was an opportunity to bring more students downtown from the RPI campus while preserving a historic church building.

"We've got a glut of churches in Troy that are unoccupied," Griffin told the board.

Local property owners expressed concerns about the impact that bringing 55 fraternity members to Third Street would have on parking and local property values.

Michael Avent, owner of 83 Third St., across the street from the church, said the proposal did not fit requirements for lot size and setbacks.

The variance request, however, received strong support. Jeff Pfeil, president of Pfeil and Co. and owner of the Conservatory, an apartment building at Third and State streets, spoke in favor of the fraternity's plans. Elizabeth Young, executive director of the Troy Downtown Business Improvement District, also backed the fraternity's plans.

The next step for the fraternity is to appear before the city Planning Commission at its Feb. 13, meeting for site plan review.