Appeal of a wayspot removal

Wayspot Appeals
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1

When submitting a Wayspot Appeal, make sure to include as much of the following information as possible:

  • Wayspot Title: Little Free Library
  • Location (lat/lon): 42.6620880, -73.7945602
  • City: Albany
  • Country: USA
  • Screenshot of the Rejection Email (do not include your personal information):
  • N/A - Incorrect removal.
  • Additional Information (if any): This is a little free library. Little free libraries are considered high quality nominations. This little free library is publicly accessible and artistically painted. It qualifies as a valid poi. The library is placed next to the sidewalk so the public and neighborhood can enjoy it. A new photo was recently approved and the poi is clearly visible in street view.

The property this library is on is not Single Family Private Residential Property but is infact a duplex. Many of the buildings in this neighborhood are duplex’s. They house multiple families or in some instances each room is rented individually to students. The multiple front doors in the building and the matching duplex nextdoor should make that abundantly clear. The little Free library, at the sidewalk, at the bottom of the stairs shared by multiple families that reside in the building is in a common shared space and is fully accessible to the public.

I am glad to provide photos or city records to validate any of these claims.

As a reviewer I saw a cluster of edit location suggestions for this poi during the edits challenge and then when the edits challenge ended it was removed. This is not the first time it has been inappropriately removed and I hope to not only have it restored but have the folks suggesting the spam location changes and removal request be reprimanded.

2

Thanks for the appeal, @facesmoosh. We have taken another look but stand by our decision to retire the Wayspot.

3

While I am disappointed in this decision and understand that there isn’t a real chance of reversal at this point I would be truly great full for clarification.

Because this was a removed poi appeal I didn’t have specific criteria to address. There was no notice of removal or information as to the cause. This is why I made some leaps and I would ask where the error in my understanding is.

1 - The poi is physically there. If this poi was removed because Niantic believed it was not permanent or still in the location the new portal photo image, Google street view, the scans used to create a VPs activated mesh and the final vps activated poi in scaniverse would all confirm that.

2 - If it was removed because of the spam location edits putting its position in question the above information also addresses that

3 - As it is in a residential area it interferes with none of the potential no go zones such as emergency services, schools, sensitive or adult locations.

4 - It is not a duplicate of any other poi as can be seen when you compare the charter number and images.

5 - Pedestrian access shouldn’t be in question because of the clear, visable public sidewalk directly at the poi.

6 - Having reached out to the property owner I can be certain no official removal requests by the property owner was made.

7 - This leaves “private residential property” as the likely cause and what I tried to address.
I was unsure this was the cause and had hoped for clarification of the removal as so I could accurately and effectively demonstrate it’s validity.
Niantic staff has been clear, through these forums about the distinction between “single family private residential property” and multi unit or multi family properties. Apartment buildings, private gated communities, dorm buildings, multi purpose buildings that include housing and other forms of community living have all been determined to be acceptable.

The question then becomes did it not provide enough evidence that it is a duplex and as such not a “single family private residential home” or is there a number or residents/families that are required to qualify.
In this example the two buildings next to each other are identical. They can see clearly on street view. From the street view you can see two front doors and two porches because they are divided into two units with their own city services as individual units. The building on the right houses students attending the assorted colleges in the area. There are at least 8 unrelated individuals living there, renting individual rooms. Like an apartment. In the other matching building where the poi itself is there are two unrelated families, one on each floor of the duplex.

How many unrelated residents does it take to distinguish a single family private residential property from other forms of housing or is there a different standard I should be using to judge a property?