Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Banners Bid Downtown topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
URA approves $200 to help cover downtown banners to screen construction; members debate whether design counts as public art or advertisement
Summary
The Urban Renewal Agency authorized up to $200 to help pay for two banners to screen a vacancy/construction site downtown; members debated whether the proposed artwork qualifies as a mural/public art or is commercial advertising and discussed alternatives for URA-branded outreach.
The Livingston Urban Renewal Agency approved a $200 direct funding contribution to install two banners on a chain‑link fence adjacent to a downtown vacant construction site, intended to screen the site during the summer tourist season.
Board members debated whether the mock-ups presented qualify as public art or are better characterized as advertising. Lisa Garcia said the images shown resemble promotional material rather than a mural and noted that the application was categorized under arts and culture even though the banners include business listings and a QR code to a downtown business directory.
"I don't believe this call is ... within the guidelines of the downtown enhancement program," Garcia said, calling the design more like advertising than a mural. Other members suggested the banners could be reframed as informational or artistic, or redesigned to feature local artists’ photography or imagery to better fit the program’s arts-and-culture intent.
Staff noted the owner of the adjacent property granted permission to use the fence and that the BID and local collaborators had organized the mock-up. The agency approved $200 to cover banner production (the design fee was already paid by the BID) and instructed staff to coordinate final placement and clarify whether URA branding should appear on the banners. Several members indicated a preference not to place the URA logo on a banner that screens a chain-link fence over a privately owned vacant lot.
The approval was framed as a short-term, small-dollar effort to reduce visual blight during peak tourist months while members discussed longer-term marketing or public-art options. Members also suggested future outreach or separate URA marketing efforts to raise awareness about URA programs rather than attaching URA branding to a single promotional banner.
