Another community refrigerator runs afoul of Des Moines zoning requirements, must move
Isaac Hamlet
Once again, the city of Des Moines is requiring the removal of community refrigerator after a neighborhood complaint.
Monika Owczarski maintains the refrigerator at her Sweet Tooth collective farm at 1809 Eighth Street next to her home in the River Bend neighborhood. She said she plans to transport it to another nearby site on Monday, where it can continue to serve as a free, fresh-food pantry for local residents.
The city in April required the removal of a shed containing another community refrigerator from a residential front yard in the Merle Hay neighborhood, also after a complaint.
Though there is no rule specifically pertaining to food pantries in Des Moines' zoning code, the city in that case said its zoning permits the placement of sheds only in side or back yards.
In Owczarski's case, the city said the refrigerator and the open-front shed housing it are a secondary structure on a property in a residentially zoned neighborhood without a primary structure — another violation of the city's code. Owczarski's farm is on leased city property that formerly was a park.
Owczarski said the city's Parks and Recreation Department, which is in charge of the land, was told the complaint came from a neighbor whose name she didn't recognize. In a Facebook posting, she said she was told the neighbor said there were "'too many cars with loud music' and 'too many loud kids who swear at her' and that somehow the fridge is causing that."
“If a neighbor truly had an issue (with the community refrigerator) on our residential street, and I think that’s valid, I’d love to have a conversation with that person," Owczarski told the Des Moines Register on Friday. She added that she had never been approached by anyone regarding issues prior to the city's involvement.
Owczarski said the refrigerator undoubtedly increased the number of cars coming through the area, but noted that the Sweet Tooth land previously had been a public park.
“I’ve been here eight years and we’ve always had loud music," she said.
As with little free libraries and pantries, which generally don't meet zoning requirements, the city takes a hands-off approach to the community refrigerators — unless there's a complaint.
SuAnn Donovan, the city's assistant director for neighborhood services, said that after receiving the complaint about Owczarski's refrigerator, she looked for any record of permission being granted for it.
“We knew the community fridge was on Eight Street and the land is being leased from Park and Rec for the farm," explained Donovan. "(After the complaint came in) I was trying to track down to see if there’s a lease agreement that would allow the refrigerator to be there and there wasn't.”
Community refrigerator 's owner known for her anti-hunger work
Owczarski's goal of fighting food insecurity with urban farms won her recognition as one of the Des Moines Registers' People to Watch in 2021.
Des Moines City Council member Bill Gray spoke highly of Owczarski, calling her and the community refrigerators as "tremendous assets to the area." He said he'd nominated Owczarski for the Des Moines Food Security Task Force.
“I think the world of her," said Gray, whose ward includes city land where Owczarski and another community farm have additional acreage. "She’s doing a tremendous job down there at Sweet Tooth Farm in the food security world."
More:Des Moines' Sweet Tooth Farms looking for new land after city forces it to vacate northside lots
Asked what those interested in creating community refrigerators or similar structures can do to avoid running afoul of city ordinances, Gray said residents should check zoning codes before placing anything on their property.
"We want to see these things do good and flourish in our city," he said. "Just, before you put it out there, be sure you're following the rules."
After the city ordered the removal of the Merle Hay community refrigerator's shed, there were expression of outrage about denying access to a food resource in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Donovan said that as Owczarski and others continue to work toward food stability and eliminating so-called food deserts, facilities like community refrigerators will continue to appear, and that she would expect them to become a larger point of conversation in the city.
More:'This is all I got now': COVID has these small-town restaurants in rural Iowa teetering on survival
“I think there’s a broader question of food deserts and community gardens," she said. "How do we combine those together?... And where do we want to have it? I think that broader discussion is going to happen and I think it's a good discussion."
Meanwhile, Owczarski said Friday she had found a good home for the refrigerator: Home Inc., a River Bend nonprofit focused on building and revitalizing housing in the Des Moines area.
Located at 1618 Sixth Ave., Home Inc. is only a five-minute walk from the refrigerator's current home.
"I just solidified this today," she said. "They have offered to house the pantry."
Isaac Hamlet covers arts, entertainment and culture at the Des Moines Register. Reach him at ihamlet@gannett.com or (319)-600-2124, follow him on Twitter @IsaacHamlet.