Saratoga Springs adopts camping ban after hours-long public hearing amid legal challenges and dissent

Saratoga Springs City Council voted 3-2 late Wednesday to repeal a decades-old sitting-or-lying rule and adopt a new ordinance — chapter 95A of the city code — that prohibits camping, sitting or lying on specified public property, including sidewalks, parking garages, medians and gazebos.

The measure, introduced by Commissioner Tim Cole during a public hearing that drew scores of speakers, passed after heated public comments that ranged from personal stories of homelessness to warnings from legal and civil-rights advocates that the law risks criminalizing poverty.

Commissioner Tim Cole, the city—s public safety commissioner, told the council the ordinance is intended to "keep public spaces safe and accessible to all" and said the city would provide a notice period before enforcement and rely on the existing outreach court model to connect people to services. Cole said the ordinance imposes civil penalties — $100 for a first offense and $250 for subsequent violations — and does not create a criminal offense. He said police would give people roughly two weeks' notice before issuing citations and that outreach court under Judge Francine Vero could dismiss or conditionally dispose of cases, referring people to treatment or services.

Why this matters: The ordinance targets visible street camping and related activity in downtown public spaces during Saratoga's busy summer season, but opponents said the city lacks the shelter capacity and affordable housing…