Property Owner Tells Village: Remove That Warming Hut

Structure off Burro Avenue built without permission years ago on land the Village did not own — and the Council knew it.

Asked to Cool it with the Warming Hut

More changes in the new year: Breeze Bay, LLC sent a letter politely requesting that the village remove the public warming hut and return the property to its original state.

Several years ago, the warming hut structure was constructed without authorization on the Oregon-based property owner's land adjacent to the US Post Office, which leases the same property.

The situation reveals an oversight by village officials, who built the warming hut without first obtaining permission from the property owner or securing the necessary land rights. The village appears to have erected the structure on private property without formal agreement or easement.

The ownership issue is no surprise to the current council. Tabitha Foster, who served as the Planning and Zoning Committee Chair at the time, brought it up in a 2023 Village Council open meeting concerning the warming hut and a special-use permit for a lemonade stand.

Foster says,

“I stood up in the meeting and told mayor Denney, even pulled it up on my laptop and my phone, and said, ‘we don’t own the property that the warming hut is on.’”, This was during the lemonade stand debacle. And so I raised my hand and asked why we were giving people official permission to trespass. “

Village sources say the warming hut structure will be repurposed for storage—perhaps providing a solution for the needed Zamboni shed.

Roster Move

Cloudcroft's office starts the new year with one more personnel change: Mayor Tim King recently dismissed interim clerk Suzanne Peralta.

Village sources say the clerk position will be filled soon.

At Tuesday morning’s meeting, the Planning and Zoning Committee (P+Z) welcomed new chair Leah Freeman into her new role. Freeman has served on the committee alongside former chair Jessica Beach, Susan Scott Difani, and Dave Abel this past year.

The P+Z committee seeks to fill an open seat. Interested parties can apply through the village website portal.

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