Clarification on Trail Markers and Park Features within 40m of Private Residences
Hi, I just wanted some clarification on this.
I think my question is fairly straight forward. Trail Markers with trail names are almost always great nominations as they encourage the community to get out, exercise, and explore their surroundings. Some park features like gazebos and playgrounds are usually great nominations as they are community gathering places and encourage social interaction (although, with COVID, maybe not so much lol).
In my city and in many nominations I've reviewed, these markers and park features are often in neighborhoods and as such near private residences. In one case in my town, a trail marker is on a public trail but is maybe 10 feet (for my non-Americans, ~3m) from the fence of a nearby house. In the Jan 2020 Clarifications, Niantic mentions the distance 40m to keep as a buffer between private residences and outdoor playgrounds, but I want to know if this extends to...well, pretty much every other type of nomination. Nominations that are in a public park or on a public trail that just happen to be within 40m of someone's home should still be eligible, in my opinion, but I want to know if they are actually ineligible simply because of geographic proximity to aforementioned homes.
Thanks!
Best Answer
-
Faversham71-PGO Posts: 1,143 ✭✭✭✭✭
In general providing they don't encourage trespass and they're clearly not on PRP they are perfectly acceptable, the instruction is just to review carefully if within 40m. The exceptions are athletics fields which oddly have to be 40m away, and some indoor nominations (Mounted or free-standing murals, paintings, fountains, sculptures, etc. on or within 40 meters of private residences.) .
Answers
In general providing they don't encourage trespass and they're clearly not on PRP they are perfectly acceptable, the instruction is just to review carefully if within 40m. The exceptions are athletics fields which oddly have to be 40m away, and some indoor nominations (Mounted or free-standing murals, paintings, fountains, sculptures, etc. on or within 40 meters of private residences.) .
Alright, good to know. Many of the ones I've reviewed were clearly not on private land and I can't see how they would at all encourage trespassing, since they don't require going through private land to get to. In particular my example with the trail marker, the homes there have a fence and the marker itself is on the public park side of the fence...definitely wouldn't encourage trespassing since someone would have to go through the fence to get onto the land, lol. I didn't know about that with athletic fields, but that's interesting and I'll certainly keep it in mind. The indoor nominations thing makes sense too. Thank you for the response.
I agree with Faversham's assessment and add that I've nominated and had accepted many trail markers that are adjacent or near residential property. I make sure it is easily approachable from the trail and would not encourage trespassing.
It is possible for trail markers to pass through private land. In our community, the district has received permission from the property owners to put trails through their land.
From my experience I have had a trail Entrance Sign denied for being on PRP even though it is in the gates of the entrance for the trail. The Trail entrance I nominated is in the middle of two houses but is gated and the sign is 2 feet into the trail. I think it really depends on who you get as a reviewer if it will get pegged for being on private property. (Attached photo to show reference)
for me personally I find a trail entrance comparable to a Park entrance sign. As long as it’s not on the front lawn and in a public place that is frequently used by the community it is eligible.
Why does it say 141 Hunter Way? It does read like a residential address, even though the sign doesn't look like that.
This trail marker doesn't meet criteria because it doesn't include the trail name. I suspect some of the reviewers chose PRP rather than "Doesn't Meet Criteria" simply because it was easier and they believed the reason was relevant enough since it was near PRP.
Honestly i don’t know the trail itself is called Gordon Galves path but all the entrance markers are between residential houses and they have their own address? The houses over there were built along with the trail paths that lead into woods and along the river.
In that area of my town all the entrances to the path have their own address on the marker entering the trail. I was iffy because it had an address not a name but since this one has been denied I’ve avoided nominations over in that new subdivision of homes along the trails.