A Saratoga Lake campground with a recent history of state code violations is set to host a music festival in August, according to the state Department of Health.
Peter Constantakes, a spokesman for DOH, said Lee’s Park campground on Fish Creek in the town of Saratoga will be able to host the “Many of One Festival,” which features a number of jam bands, from Aug. 5 to 7. The campground has fixed problems with its water treatment system and overcrowding that have plagued the site since the summer of 2009, he said.
State inspectors from the DOH first noticed violations on June 15, 2009, when they followed up on a complaint about conditions at the campground. The campground is a popular destination for people attending rock concerts at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Inspectors found overflowing trash bins and instances of camping where it was not permitted just days after the Dave Matthews Band shows at SPAC. Subsequent visits found minor violations that summer.
Ultimately, the campground closed its gates to concert campers for the rest of that season.
Following the inspections, the owners of Lee’s Park began working with the Health Department to address the violations. The campground was seeking additional permits for the property that would allow them to host the large influx of campers when popular concerts were in town.
“Since that time, we have worked with the operators to basically see if they could use sporadic use [permits],” Constantakes said. These permits have more lax restrictions on how far away water facilities need to be and can apply to brief periods of occasional use.
“Since it’s not going to be a permanent thing, we can make an exception,” he said.
Lee’s Park operator Leo Nosal Jr. was unavailable for comment on Tuesday.
In total, Lee’s Park was hoping to add 411 campsites on a “sporadic use” basis on top of their 100 campsites for regular use. These permits were discussed by the Town Planning Board last summer and Constantakes said they were approved.
The website for Lee’s Park notes that two tents are allowed per site, with “no regulations stating the number of guests that are allowed per tent.”
Additional changes include a water treatment system that was installed in 2010.
Even though the DOH has noted minor violations at the campground since summer 2009, Constantakes said the site operators have been cooperative and willing to fix their serious issues.
“We worked with them since 2009 to establish something that would work,” he said. “So we’re allowing them to use it sporadically.”
Information about camp policies and the music being offered during the “Many of One Festival” can be found at www.manyofonefestival.com/cms/manyofonefestival.
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