Editorial: Cut through sticky red tape

Tribune-Review | Tuesday, January 14, 2020 4:01 p.m.

It was supposed to signal something that was important.

In a pile of government documents — decimated forests of paper and ink — ribbons of red tape would signal that one sheaf was more weighty than the others.

But red tape spreads like weeds and it wasn’t long before everything government did became wrapped up in it. Today red tape doesn’t signify importance and priority. It is just the status quo.

Whether you favor the origin story that puts its beginnings in the Holy Roman Empire or Tudor England or the pension records of U.S. Civil War soldiers, the result is the same. Red tape sticks to everything.

That makes the Greensburg planning department’s efforts to eliminate it laudable.

Like so many government entities, big and small and necessary and esoteric, the city has a maze of policies, processes, regulations and ordinances which were built over time for reasons that probably seemed very important at the time. But for a property developer, following the rules can lead to blind alleys and dead ends as the various requirements contradict each other or just no longer apply.

Enter the idea of replacing eight different kinds of permits with one unified zoning permit. It’s the kind of common-sense obviousness that makes you wonder why no one thought of it before. Because common-sense obviousness is not exactly a government strength.

The suggestion from a planning consultant, along with a recommendation to make information on the process clearer and more easily available online, is exactly the kind of concrete next step that is well in line with the Westmoreland County Comprehensive Plan and its goal of attracting jobs and upgrading downtowns.

It’s also the kind of idea that should have bipartisan support.

Those who think regulations are important should realize they are more likely to be followed if following them is easy. Those who think there are too many regulations should be attracted to the idea of tossing what’s unnecessary.

And if Greensburg decides to cut through this red tape, maybe that kind of common sense could stick in other departments, other municipalities, and other government entities, too.