[Talk-us] access=private on driveways (was: Deleting tiger:reviewed=no/addr:street for routes)

[Jmapb]

On 7/13/2020 3:22 PM, Tod Fitch wrote:
> Out of curiosity, I looked at the tagging of a neighborhood I know of
> which has privately owned roads (maintained by the homeowner’s
> association) but no gate blocking entry. There are signs indicating
> that the roads are “private” but that state road regulations are
> enforced. The access on those roads is currently tagged as
> access=permissive.
>
> Thinking about it, that seems correct: The roads are privately owned.
> But you are free to access them unless or until the owner withdraws
> permission.
>
> There are “gated communities” where you can’t get in unless you have a
> card key or speak with a gate keeper. Those should, I think, have
> access=private as you need explicit permission on each entry.
>
> But for the case where the road is privately owned but the owner
> allows access without prior consent, access=permissive seems to be a
> good fit.
>
> —Tod

Permissive sounds good to me in this case.

I suspect that sometimes access=permissive is applied in error by
mappers who misunderstand the term to mean "permission is required"
rather than "permission may be presumed."

To muddle things further, another popular tag is access=permit,
undocumented but I believe it means that access is allowed for holders
of a particular permit, eg, a camping permit or fishing license. If I'm
right about this then it's similar to access=private but a little more
informative.

And of course there's access=forestry, agricultural, military, delivery,
employees, customers -- all also a little more informative.

As usual I tag what I see, and if there's knowledge that can't easily be
observed firsthand then it's a good idea to be explicit about the source
and/or add a note=* tag. But I think this thread has made clear that
merely seeing the word "private" on a road sign does not mean the road
needs access=private.

Generally I'll use access=private for any road where the owner has
clearly prohibited unauthorized public access. A controlled physical
barrier isn't required but that would certainly qualify.

.Jason