When Lisa Packard heard from a man who wanted to live part-time in her cabin at 91 Dock Road in Alna to be nearer his children, she didn’t know a court order barred anyone from living in it, she said.

Nor did Packard know a tree house the man wanted to build his daughters for Christmas would go against the town’s shoreland zoning rules. She knows now, and she wants to resolve the issues, she told the Alna Planning Board on Monday night.

Chairman Doug Baston called the situation egregious.

“You should read have your deed,” he told Packard.

However, since Packard had made no effort to hide the tree house or the use of the cabin, he said he believed she didn’t know there was a problem.

During the meeting, Packard brought up her full-time job as the director of the Chewonki Foundation’s outdoor classroom program. She has a very clear understanding of the importance of clean waterways, she said.

If she had known a tree house wasn’t allowed, she wouldn’t have let the man build it, she said.

“I was completely ignorant on that.”

Since the man was an experienced carpenter, according to Packard, alternate board member Jeff Spinney said the man should have known to contact the town before building something near the Sheepscot River.

When board members asked if the man had rented the cabin, Packard said there was no contract; the use of the cabin was in trade for his help with electricity costs and guidance on some work she wants to do, she said. They also asked who the man was. But Packard did not name him. What happened was her responsibility, she said.

“I want to own this. And I want to lean into this and solve it,” she told the board. Earlier in the meeting, she said the man lives in Somerville. He is no longer staying at the cabin, she said.

It was not immediately clear how quickly the tree house will come down. The board set no date. It should be removed sooner rather than later, Baston said.

Packard cited her work and parental commitments that also need her time. Board members raised concerns about the prospect of snow adding weight to the tree that holds the tree house.

Alna Code Enforcement Officer Stan Waltz estimated the tree house at 400 pounds or more. Board Chairman Doug Baston suggested the man who built it should help Packard take it down.

“I think your unidentified tenant owes you a favor,” Baston said.

Planning board members described Packard as cooperative; Packard told them she was grateful to them for having the dialogue.

The board asked that Waltz write his findings in a letter, and that Packard then respond to the letter. Depending on how quickly the letters are done, the board may call a special meeting to review them and consider action.

The cabin was the subject of scrutiny long before Packard bought the property in 2014. A prior owner, Myles Jordan, built it to practice the cello, Baston said. In 2005, a Superior Court justice put restrictions on the cabin’s use, including bans on plumbing and use as a single-family home, according to a court order the town has on file.

Justice Donald Marden also ordered Jordan to pay Alna a $2,000 fine, according to the document.

Baston told Packard the town may fine her in connection with the issues discussed that night.

“This has attracted some attention in town and we have to be diligent in our response,” he said. He has received calls regarding both the tree house and the cabin, he said.

Packard did not ask to keep the tree house up, but she asked what the board’s concern was about it. It’s a man-made intrusion into a sensitive area, board member Peter Tischbein said.

Not enforcing the rules could lead other property owners to question why they can’t build next to the river, members said.

The tree house wouldn’t meet all the criteria for a variance, board members said.

The board also briefly discussed tree stumps Waltz said were on Packard’s property. Only dead trees were taken down, so he doesn’t think the cutting is an issue, he said.