It was a bitter defeat for the Monticello beer store owner, who says he invested half a year of work and up to $100,000 in improving a barn, hiring bands and staff and installing toilets and electricity. But he never bothered getting a mass-gathering or building permit from the town, or applying for a variance to the agricultural zoning area he lives in.

''The fact that your motives were pure still doesn't forgive that you have to comply with the laws,'' visiting Judge George Ceresia told Howard.

Howard and his companion, Jeryl Abramson, planned to have 80 bands playing over the three days. The show was not meant to make money, Howard said. The bands would play for free and he would ask a $10 donation from concert-goers.

The point, he said, was to give a place to go for the expected thousands who come every year to celebrate the anniversary of the 1969 concert.

Howard advertised in local papers and the Internet, and held a press conference in New York City last week. But Howard never asked the town for permits, despite the letter Code Enforcement Officer Timothy Dexter wrote him in late June, advising him to appear before the Planning Board as soon as possible.

Abramson said they didn't bother because they watched promoter Sid Bernstein spend years trying to get permits for his proposed 1994 Bethel celebration, only to give up in disgust weeks before the event was planned.

''Childbirth is easier than obtaining a permit in Bethel,'' she said before the hearing Tuesday. ''If we applied for the permits we'd just waste a lot of money.''

When the town heard about Howard's press conference, they asked for a temporary restraining order, which was issued July 31.

Tuesday, defense attorney Robert Gaiman said Howard's event was necessary to give Woodstockers a place to camp, now that they have been barred from camping on the Hurd Road site a mile down the road. Howard himself, speaking to the judge for a few minutes, said he had always been ''farm friendly'' and would take care of the fields.

''That's fine,'' the judge replied. ''But that's not one of the issues.''

Now, if so much as a note is heard on Howard's 17B property, he could face contempt of court charges. That, said Bethel lawyer Edward Cooke, is a sign of the times.

''The days when you and I can let something happen spontaneously don't work anymore,'' he said.