So several years ago I put a Little Free Library up on my yard (well within the easement) and it has been my dream to get it made into a Pokestop. I submitted it and it was denied as private property but most of the other LFLs in my town are technically in peoples yards but all are Pokestops. Considering that in order to have a registered LFL you consent to having people on your property to access it, how can I get my LFL approved? It seems like a nonsense rule and certainly inconsistently applied.
I’ve been slowly collecting a list of all of the “library” portals in my area.
Yesterday I finally started going through them to see which are valid and which are invalid.
So far, I have 19 on the list to submit for removal because they are on private property.
I have another 1,500+ to review.
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Sometimes things that are not eligible make it onto the map, it’s a product of the way the system is designed. If the Little Free Library is on personal private property then they can be reported as such, and Niantic should remove them.
Consent to have people on your property is irrelevant, as Niantic is building a forever map. If you choose to move, then the next resident of the house might not be as amenable to having people on their property. Niantic errs on the side of caution in these scenarios and considers them ineligible.
Without seeing pictures of where the LFL in question is on the property it’s difficult to assess its eligibility. If you’re willing to share some pictures, we can have a look and advise you on what steps to take.
A general rule of thumb is if it’s on the street side of a sidewalk then you have a much greater chance of it being eligible as that strip of land is quite often “owned” by the city/region. However, if it’s on the property side of the sidewalk than it’s considered ineligible.
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Hello, and welcome to the Wayforum.
**Easements, “right-of-ways,” and sidewalks are too broad to make a global statement on, but the guidance is the same as above - if it is part of a private residence, it is ineligible.
I’m not used to areas with easement. A friend a town over reports that her city wouldn’t approve putting in a Little Free Library. But if yours meets the above, you might try again with better support text. If it still fails, you could appeal it to Niantic.
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It may help us if you tell us which country you are trying to setup a LFL Waystop.
In USA, at least in the days before AI/ML, some resident LFL passed through during Wayfarer Challenges. A bunch of novice jump in, blindly vote for whatever, and then leave.
But, game players of all kinds will stop by the LFL. Almost all of them are game friendly players from families to Santa Claus. However, it will include an Ingress portal which is a much smaller, older game that keeps going at 24/7 unlike Saint Pokemon Gym that goes to bed soon after 9 pm.
If someone doesn’t like your Waystop for many reasons, they can easily request a removal.
Moderator comment
You are welcome to express views but in doing so please ……
Remain respectful of fellow wayfinders
Be clear where you making assumptions rather than stating facts
To specifically address some aspects of your post.
Since the majority of challenge areas have involved reviewing outside of the USA I would like to see the evidence for this statement.
From reports I have seen over the years it is a regular occurrence that Little Free Libraries get incorrectly approved. They feature in the criteria clarifications as it a frequent query.
Your comments about new wayfinders are unjustified and disrespectful.
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I have one question for the OP. Is your house a single-family dwelling or multi-family? It seems that all of the responses thus far have assumed that it’s single-family, and the private property policies aren’t treated the same for multi-unit dwellings. This has caused me a headache as both Emily and reviewers have had a hard time differentiating between the two.
If you say the library is in your yard, and its a normal house not an apartment, then the location is ineligible
It would need to be on public land, for example a verge maintained by the local council or in a public space.
Niantic has strict rules about single family private residential properties (unless its a power spot of course, then they don’t check)
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