Author: Thomas Dimopoulos

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Spa City’s seasonal parking program will make its return on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26.

During the program season, which will run through to Monday, Sept. 1, parking in city owned garages and surface lots will costs $2 per hour, or $12 for an overnight rate from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. On-street parking will remain free for all vehicles.

Saratoga Springs City residents are eligible for free parking permits. The city says those who registered in 2024 have been renewed in 2025. New to the program: permits for residents of the Saratoga Springs City School District, which can be purchased monthly or for the entire season at a discount.

The s inaugural program kicked off in 2024, with the city anticipating approximately $1.6 million in revenue minus an estimated $450,000 expenses and resulting in net gain of over $1.1 million. 

The program eventually got underway in mid-June and resulted in a net revenue of just over $130,000, officials announced in October. Overall, the program generated just over $275,000 with a project cost about $144,000 to implement the first year – nearly $124,000 of which was for the one-time purchase of equipment. 

“In the second year of the program both public safety and public works are prepared to improve on what they learned through implementation and I’m hoping for a successful program in 2025,” said Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll.

Newly minted DPW Commissioner Chuck Marshall expressed strong opposition to the paid parking plan during his campaign for the seat earlier this year in a citywide special election. Marshall, who was endorsed by the Republican Party, secured the seat by a narrow margin and at his swearing-in ceremony in March said while he remained opposed to paid parking measures in the city, it would be irresponsible to simply un-fund it as it already was present in the budget as city revenue, and its outright elimination would create an unbalanced budget.

 “I remain concerned about the impacts of paid parking on downtown businesses, but the City Council approved the program so it will be implemented this year,” Commissioner Marshall said in a statement this week. “Throughout the program I’ll be performing a thoughtful assessment to determine the full ramifications of paid parking.” 

Garages and surface lots owned by Saratoga Springs are included in the paid parking restrictions. This includes the multi-level parking garage on Woodlawn Avenue, the two-level garages one on Spring Street and the other on Walton Street, and the surface lots located at Spring Street and other High Rock Avenue. In each of these locations the hourly rate is $2, or $12 overnight.

Residents previously registered only need to update their vehicle information if it has changed (new license plate or vehicle). Those interested in obtaining a permit can access the portal through the City’s website to register: https://www.tocite.net/saratogaspringspd/portal/permit  or visit the Department of Public Works at City Hall, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. –  4 p.m., for assistance.

Taxpayers of the Saratoga Springs City School District (SSCSD) can apply for a monthly or season long permit. Monthly permits are: $35 for May and June, $45 for July, and $55 for August and September. The seasonal permit cost is $100 and must be purchased in May or June. Permits can be purchased through the portal on the city’s website.

Employees of businesses located downtown can obtain a free permit through their employer. The employer needs to register their fleet with the city and can email parking@saratoga-springs.org for more information. Businesses that previously registered their fleet will be reactivated and can apply a 2025 permit to their employees.

Note, the Saratoga Springs Public Library Lot located on Maple Avenue requires a separate free library permit that can be obtained at the front desk of the library. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The operator of the city-based 24/7 low barrier homeless shelter delivered what it called “an urgent message on the future” to City Hall this week: without a city commitment to fund shelter operations through 2026, the agency would cease shelter operations with an anticipated closure date on June 3.     

Following up on its two-page letter addressed to the City Council dated and signed by RISE Housing and Support Services Executive Director Sybil Newell on April 29, members of the nonprofit housing agency showed up in numbers at City Hall during this week’s meeting to deliver their message in person.   

“We want to ensure the low barrier we’ve worked on so hard on for the past couple of years remains open long enough to find a permanent solution, so we don’t end up back at square one,” Newell said during the night of the May 6 council meeting.  

“We are funded through the end of December 2025. However, for the past two years we’ve really had to scrape and struggle to get funding committed every year and that has left us in complete limbo close to at the end of our contract, every year,” Newell said. “We are simply asking them to commit to funding us through the end of next year (2026) so we aren’t scrambling and scraping again in a few months, and we can really get some momentum behind finding a permanent solution.”

Some of the council members were admittedly “caught off guard by the letter,” and after lengthy discussion during its meeting seemed to come to a consensus to revisit the issue more fully during its next meeting on May 20.   

RISE has operated the Adelphi Street low-barrier shelter since 2022 as an emergency response to visible homelessness in Saratoga. The shelter currently serves more than 30 people who cannot access traditional shelters due to mental health or substance use challenges. The June 3 date cited as potential closure precedes by one day the start of the highly anticipated Belmont Festival week in Saratoga Springs and the closure would result in the near three dozen people RISE serves without its serviceable shelter.    

“We want to bring public attention to this issue at the most salient point in the year,” Newell said. “Unfortunately, on December 31, nobody’s paying attention to homelessness. That’s why we’re paying attention to this now.”    

The Adelphi Street shelter, local just of South Broadway, first opened as a winter-season Code Blue shelter operated by Shelters of Saratoga in winter 2019-20, evolving into Saratoga Springs’ first low barrier year-round facility when RISE assumed operations in 2023.  Local developer Sonny Bonacio secured a temporary lease on the property, renovated the building, and provided it rent-free to RISE on a temporary basis. That time frame is soon coming to conclusion. 

The current cost of operating the low barrier shelter is approximately $42,000 per month, or a half-million dollars per year, which includes staffing, utilities, meals and additional support services.  “That amounts to about $45 per day per person, year-round, and that’s if we serve 30 people,” said Newell, adding that the number of people served is often higher and is currently at 35. The city of Saratoga Springs is funding the approximate $500,000 costs through the end of this calendar year.

“The owner of 4 Adelphi Street, Peter Kodogiannis, has graciously allowed us to use that space for the low-barrier shelter, and (previously) allowed the city to use that space for Code Blue. He is not pleased that a solution has not been found yet,” Newell said. “He called me the other day wondering when our shelter will be leaving and about how much progress the city and the county have made toward finding a permanent solution. I was not able to give him that answer. So also on behalf of him, I’m here speaking and trying to put pressure on the city and the county to come up with the solution so that isn’t put in an impossible situation where he has to put a homeless shelter out on the street to get his building back.”       

Saratoga County recently purchased a 1.4-acre parcel at 96 -116 Ballston Ave. (Route 50) in Saratoga Springs for $3 million as the future location of a permanent Code Blue homeless shelter. “Code Blue” is strictly a cold-weather seasonal shelter and does not address year-round homelessness. Additionally, the county has strongly maintained that it has no willingness to operate as a low barrier facility. 

Whether dialogue between the city, shelter operators, and the county will now become heightened remains to be seen, although there appears a desire among some to do so.    

“While I can only speak for myself as a county supervisor, I would like to see the county get more involved,” said Michele Madigan, who represents the city of Saratoga Springs at the county board. “I think it would be beneficial for RISE to educate the supervisors on what a low barrier shelter is.”   

“With the buying of the property for Code Blue, I think it gives us the perfect opportunity to locate all of these services in one location if we can just get the county on board,” Newell said.  

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The City Council will host a Public Hearing on May 6 in advance of a vote seeking to ban roosters in Saratoga Springs.   

Inevitable jokes aside, “this is serious to a lot of people,” city Mayor John Safford said. 

Current City regulations set crowing cock noise restrictions from midnight to 7 a.m. The amendment would not allow roosters to be kept at any time on any property in the city, excepting as part of a farming or agricultural business in conformance with the UDO. 

“We intend to eliminate roosters throughout the entire city. Right now, they’re just allowed, in part, in the inner (tax) district,” said Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll.    

“Over the last few years, we’ve had a half-dozen complaints about roosters. Obviously, they’re very noisy. The UDO covers a hen house which has certain specifics – but I think a ‘no rooster’ ordinance is appropriate,” Coll said. 

The amendment specifies the term “rooster” as any adult male domestic chicken or any adult male bird capable of crowing. 

Hens, which lay eggs, would still be permissible. Area municipalities have similar ordinances.  

The cities of Albany and Rensselaer and the village of Ballston Spa all prohibit roosters, but each allows up to six hens via respective local licensing and permitting processes. Some require the written consent of nearby residents, while others are subject to noise provisions. The town of Wilton also prohibits roosters but allows up to 12 female chickens via a $20 permit fee, with a $10 annual renewal cost. The cities of Schenectady and Mechanicville prohibit altogether the keeping of any livestock or poultry. 

“We’re going to give homeowners at least several months to re-home the rooster,” Coll said. “Our code enforcement officers right now are looking for establishments that will accept the roosters.”    

The public hearing will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6 at City Hall in Saratoga Springs, in advance of that night’s council meeting.