The problems with making a "Patch type area" are numorus:
How do you define the area?
How do you do so programatically?
Who does the area definition?
How do you handle overlapping areas?
With POI dots, all you need is a single /loc. You enter it in and the type and bang, you're done. The code to generate the display for a single dot is already written and works well. Any area covering would actually be a custom graphic for each and every one. That would be a huge amount of work! That presumes that it would even be possible to make an accurate patch . . .
So . . umm . . thanks for the idea, but I don't think it'd be practical.
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