This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) — A communal refrigerator in Midtown was removed after the city received a complaint. 

The fridge, filled with free food, was placed in an alley off of 25th Street near P Street as a way to help feed families in need.

Now, the communal fridge lives in a garage.

“I enjoy the fridge being there; actually, I saw quite a few people coming by. There got to be a few regulars who you could kinda tell they kinda depended on it,” said Paul Andrews, who helped bring the communal fridge to the alley by contacting the organizers behind SacFridge4All.

“The fridge gave me an opportunity to be like, ‘Look, we could put some much more healthy food out here; we could put lot of dry goods, stuff like that,” he continued.

Then, Sacramento’s code enforcement closed the door on that opportunity.

The City of Sacramento told FOX40 that the department received a complaint, saying in a statement: “Pursuant to Sacramento City Code 8.04.100, household appliances are not to be stored outdoors.”

“A notice was issued to the property owner and occupant requesting that it be removed. Neither party was issued a fine or penalties,” it added.

“I was kinda annoyed, honestly,” Andrews said.

SacFridge4All galvanized community members to reach out to code enforcement about the warning.

In response, the city said it “… understands the intent for the community refrigerator and proactively contacted the occupant requesting that it be relocated into the garage to comply with code requirements.”

The two groups are working to find a compromise, thanks to the outpouring of support.

“Finally, when the community got involved, that’s when they finally turned around and were like, ‘OK, so let’s work together to try and figure out how we can keep this,’” Andrews explained.

Andrews said while they figure something out, he and other organizers will be installing shelving to provide families with canned goods.

“I’m happy,” he said. “I’m honestly happy because I see there’s some path forward.”

For now, the refrigerator will remain in the garage until both parties can find a happy medium.