Committee working on TV ad for Carson

Advertisements to promote Carson City's downtown may be heading for local television stations.

Rob Joiner, Carson City redevelopment director, said the city's Redevelopment Authority Citizen Committee has been working on coming up with a recognizable brand for downtown. The slogan "It's For Real" is the group's working logo, he said, and today the group will discuss promoting the logo and the capital's downtown on local cable stations.

"In general they would say, come downtown, things are great, things are happening," Joiner said. "It's a way for us to keep promoting downtown."

The spots could be used to promote downtown in general, and owners could share the costs to have their business highlighted in an ad, Joiner said.

However, Redevelopment Authority Chairwoman Robin Williamson said she isn't convinced advertising is "an appropriate use of tax dollars." She said estimates of the advertisements' cost is up to $500 a month.

"I don't know if that's not a function of private business," Williamson said. "I don't know if we would be doing this to attract people who already know about downtown.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea, but I'm certainly willing to discuss it. I'm open to what everyone's ideas are on it. I'd like to hear more opinions on whether this is an appropriate use of tax dollars."

The redevelopment committee will also discuss:

- Creation of a specific plan for the redevelopment area. Joiner said while the city's master plan identifies zoning areas within the redevelopment district, it doesn't say specifically what the city and property owner envision for a specific parcel.

"It would pretty much be a case by case, parcel by parcel vision of specific land use to make sure things don't happen haphazardly," Joiner said.

Joiner pointed to a recent purchase by the state of apartment buildings on Sixth Street which will likely become office space. Perhaps, he said, a specific plan would have called for a mix of residential and commercial use in that spot.

"Without a plan, people don't have any input on what the use is," Joiner said.

Joiner said a specific plan would be created with cooperation between property owners and the redevelopment committee.

Williamson said with recent "visioning workshops" the committee is drafting a more specific direction for downtown, and that could guide the city as well as a specify parcel by parcel plan. Williamson said she doesn't want to use redevelopment dollars to hire someone to prepare the plan.

"I see the value of a study, but I don't want to spend $100,000 on one," she said. "I think we have an idea what we're looking for."

If you go:

What: Carson City Redevelopment Authority Citizen's Committee

When: today, 5:30 p.m.

Where: City Hall's Capitol Conference Room, 201 N. Carson St.