Saratoga Springs’ controversial camping ban is being put to the test in the city’s outreach court.
Standing outside city hall Tuesday, Mr. Browne is leaving his hearing in the city’s outreach court.
“They’re persecuting me because I’m homeless, not because I’m an artist,” said Browne, whom WAMC is identifying only by his last name.
Browne is the second person this month to appear before Judge Francine Vero under the city’s novel camping ban. He was ticketed downtown, where he shares stories and collects donations on Broadway to sustain himself. To be sure, he also faces drug charges separate from the camping citation.
In July, days before the summer horse racing meet began at Saratoga Race Course, the city council voted to pass an ordinance titled “Camping Prohibited on Certain Public Property," which bans sitting and lying on city sidewalks and public lots. The city has long dealt with a significant unhoused population.
The five-member council only held one public hearing on the ordinance – a hearing that drew a robust turnout of opponents. And at the July meeting when the measure passed, some, like Regional Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union Melanie Trimble, further questioned the ordinance’s legality.
“While Saratoga Springs can regulate, reasonably, where and when camping is permitted on city property, it cannot simply ban it outright. And, in particular, if there are no alternative shelter options. The city’s only temporary shelter option, run by RISE Housing and Support Services, is full with a regular waitlist of Saratoga Springs and Saratoga County residents seeking a bed. More capacity, as promised, is desperately needed,” said Trimble.
Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll, who first won his seat in 2023 with GOP backing, was the architect of the camping ordinance, introducing it as a way to push those living on the streets to local service providers.
In an interview with WAMC earlier this month, Coll stood by the law, saying it’s inhumane to continue to allow unhoused individuals go without help.
“We don’t have a criminal component. It’s a civil fine and we obviously need some kind of penalty otherwise we’d need some type of mechanism to get our folks in front of the outreach court to try to connect them to services,” said Coll.
Individuals, like Browne, charged under the ordinance don’t face prison time. Instead, initial violations carry an initial $100 fine that climbs to $250 with subsequent violations.
The individuals are then sent to the city’s outreach court and subsequently connected with local service providers.
One case was already dropped earlier this month – the individual charged was already working with RISE Housing and Support Services.
During Browne’s hearing in Vero’s courtroom, the judge said she assumed the camping ordinance charge would be dismissed.
“So, this is what I’m going to do. On the two other dockets, the two felony drug charges and the A misdemeanor drug charge, I’m going to release him to the supervision of RISE on those penal law charges but not the camping ordinance,” said Vero.
Advocates argue the ordinance criminalizes homelessness and contend the city would better serve its unhoused residents by establishing a permanent, year-round shelter. Two years ago, a task force on homelessness provided several potential sites for such a shelter, but city officials have not yet moved on the recommendations.
Democratic Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi voted against the camping ban. And she said she is frustrated by its implementation, which results in confusion about the charges and apparent targeting of the city’s most vulnerable residents.
“I see it as these are people who need more services and we should be able to provide them more services. Whether that is spaces to camp, whether that is shelter, whether that is a low-barrier solution, a congregate housing solution, supportive housing solution. These are all possible methods we can be helping people. Fining them, giving them a ticket, putting them in prison or in mandatory rehab, to me, those are not good options,” said Sanghvi.
Coll, however, views the ordinance differently. For him, getting individuals off the street and into mental health, substance abuse, and housing programs is personal.
“My brother had a mental illness. And then he had substance abuse issues that started with alcohol. Most housed, mostly down in the Albany area in the Peter Young umbrella. Albany’s a tough place and eventually my brother got addicted to crack cocaine. And when you combine substance abuse with mental health, it’s a very, very difficult journey and a difficult road. And so, when I see the homeless, I see my brother,” said Coll.
