Legislation aims to eliminate several Pittsburgh business licenses

Legislation before Pittsburgh City Council may eliminate certain business licenses that the city’s Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections recommended nixing.

“PLI is proposing the elimination of several business licenses that we find are duplicative,” PLI Director Sarah Kinter said. She said the licenses that would be removed are repetitive of requirements outlined in the city’s zoning or building codes.

They include licenses for transient merchants, trade fairs and amusement places and producers. The measure would also get rid of a sign maintenance certification.

Many of these licenses, Kinter said, date to the 1970s. While they may have had good purposes then, she said, they’re unnecessary today.

Councilman Bobby Wilson, who sponsored the legislation, said the goal is to simplify the licensing processes handled through PLI, a department that has raised complaints for being inefficient.

“Any red tape that we can eliminate from PLI, I think, is beneficial not only to the public, but to contractors,” Councilman Anthony Coghill said.

Some people shy away from doing business in the city because of strict requirements in licensing and permitting, Coghill said.

Plus, removing unnecessary licenses would reduce the workload for the overburdened PLI staff, he said.

Councilwoman Deb Gross, however, raised concerns of “unintended consequences” that she feared could result. She worried that eliminating the existing licenses could result in new complications or make it harder for the city to regulate those areas.

“I don’t know that I want to retreat from business licenses,” she said.

Kinter, however, said that the issues are already regulated under zoning and building codes — and, therefore, not much would change in practicality.

Gross said she was supportive of eliminating the sign maintenance certification, but wanted to research further the potential implications of removing other licenses.

Gross and Council President Theresa Kail-Smith abstained from a preliminary vote on Wednesday, though all other council members voted in favor of the measure.

The legislation is expected to appear on council’s agenda next week for a final vote.