Reinventing downtown York will take years, not months, Sonia Huntzinger said.

In an interview this week, Huntzinger, executive director of community group Downtown Inc, said a panel of 11 businesspeople and public officials is meeting regularly to implement recommendations delivered in December by development consultant Roger Brooks.

But it's important that the organization first lay a "very stable and strong foundation" for change in York, she said.

And that will take time.

Brooks was commissioned by city businesses to gauge how York can better market itself to tourists, shoppers and other businesses. Among many other suggestions, he called for the designation of a downtown "market district" around Central Market, and he said the broader York area should rebrand itself as a hub for industrial arts and design.

Though some of Brooks' observations are being incorporated on an issue-by-issue level, broader changes -- including a change in perception -- will take much longer, Huntzinger said.

"We are not kidding ourselves that we're going to knock this out in a couple of years," she said. "This is a three- to five-year plan at best. There are no delusions."

Plan: Bill Swartz, who sits on the Brooks team, told a crowd of about 100 people Wednesday that the panel has been meeting two to four times a month since Brooks delivered his report Dec. 1.

Swartz's presentation was part of Downtown Inc's first "downtown update," a briefing designed to give people an idea of what's happening in the city's central business district. The organization plans to hold the meetings quarterly and has set the next one for May 26.

The goal for the Market District is to develop a walkable, four-block area with 10 restaurants, 10 night-life spots and 10 retail destinations, Swartz said.

And the Brooks committee has identified 60 businesses and individuals in the area that fit the industrial design brand, proving that the concept "really is authentic to York," he said.

"We have what we believe is an excellent vision for where our community can go and how we can get there," he said.

Progress: In the short term, Downtown Inc hopes people will see some of the cosmetic and quality-of-life issues the organization already is trying to abate.

At the committee level, volunteers are tackling problems posed by weeds, litter and the glut of "temporary real estate" signage in the area -- all observations Brooks made during previous visits to York, Huntzinger said.

With the help of a $1,000 grant from Better York, planters will be placed in front of nonprofits along South George Street beginning this spring, said Judd Lando, representing Downtown Inc's physical appearance committee.

The organization's economic development committee also is working on parking issues and a retail recruitment strategy, Huntzinger said.

"We've taken basically every single thing that's come out of (Brooks') mouth ... and laid it out on a worksheet," she said. "From those recommendations, the next step is to say, "OK, what's the timeline of that implementation?"