Code Blue Shelter Gets New Permanent Location in Saratoga Springs

The Saratoga County Code Blue Shelter will have a permanent location starting in the winter 2027 after the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors approved a site in Saratoga Springs. 

The new facility will be located at 96 Ballston Ave, directly across the street from Market 32, in the city of Saratoga Springs. It is listed as being a 25,600 square foot facility with a common room, office spaces, commercial kitchen and mess hall. When in operation, the shelter will have 75 beds available with capacity for an additional 43 beds in times of emergency. 

Under the ordinance, Shelters of Saratoga will build and operate the facility. It is expected to be open during the winter months and any time the temperate dips below freezing. 

The shelter was approved during a Saratoga County Board of Supervisors meeting on April 21, 2026. The permanent shelter was described by members of the board as a good first step and that it would avoid the continual need to find locations for the shelter year after year. It also coincides with the end of the lease at the current code blue shelter located at 120 South Broadway.

During the meeting Saratoga Springs Supervisors Minita Sanghvi and Sarah Burger spoke about the impact the code blue shelter would have on the city. Both said they received numerous comments from residents speaking about safety concerns surrounding the shelter. According to the supervisors, numerous residents reported issues with public urination, verbal assaults, physical altercations, indecent exposure and incapacitated individuals in the neighborhood surrounding the current code blue shelter and the proposed site.

This has created concerns over public safety costs for handling the incidents. Sanghvi said that while those who use the services come from across the county, Saratoga Springs has had to bear the cost of providing emergency services to the shelter. 

“While the county dispatch would get the calls, Saratoga Springs police, EMS and fire will be responding to the calls,” Sanghvi said. “This is a significant burden on our city residents that we shouldn’t have to bear alone.” 

Sanghvi said that she hopes that the county can come to an intermunicipal agreement with the city to share resources and costs associated with the shelter moving forward.

Supervisor Burger echoed Sanghvi saying there were 264 emergency calls to the current code blue shelter in 2025 and that the city can’t afford the bill for the county.

Both supervisors emphasized that while this was an important first step, it shouldn’t be the only step. Sanghvi said that homelessness comes in many forms and that a single shelter open in winter cannot be the only solution. 

The discussion around a code blue shelter has been going on for over a decade. In 2013, the death of Saratoga Springs resident Nancy Pitts due to freezing temperatures led the City of Saratoga Springs to first establish a code blue shelter. Later in 2016, a statewide mandate was issued requiring counties to provide a code blue shelter when the temperature dips below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.