This week is Sunshine Week in Pennsylvania, where issues involving government transparency are highlighted across the state. AroundAmbler.com, of course, will focus on Ambler, Lower Gwynedd, Upper Dublin, and Whitpain. We will do one article Monday through Friday on different aspects of transparency.

Development and redevelopment are hot topics for the public (and some of the best read articles on AroundAmbler.com). We looked at the municipal websites for three things. Providing applications as they are received. Providing applications and supporting documents with agendas, and whether they publish the outcomes of zoning hearings.

Why is this important? The public, which has the opportunity to offer comment on these applications, should be provided all the information prior to the meetings. They should be given the opportunity to be as informed as possible.

The possible score of 10 is broken down this way. Five for posting applications as they come in, four for inclusion with agendas, and one for publishing zoning outcomes.

Ambler Borough | 2.5 out of 10
Ambler does not offer a page for recent applications. It provides the application and supporting documentation for planning meetings, but not zoning hearings. It also does not offer the outcomes of zoning hearings.

Lower Gwynedd Township | 0 out of 10
Lower Gwynedd does not have a page for recent applications and does not provide the application and supporting documentation for planning and zoning meetings. It does not offer the outcomes of zoning hearings.

Upper Dublin Township | 5 out of 10
Upper Dublin does not have a page for recent applications, however, does provide applications and supporting documents for planning and zoning meetings. It does not offer the outcomes of zoning hearings.

Whitpain Township | 8 out of 10
In a similar article on MoreThanTheCurve.com, we offered Whitpain as the gold standard when providing access to applications as they are submitted. Interestingly, it does include them with the actual agenda, but they are available, just at another location on the website (but they really should be combined). It is the only municipality that we know of that publishes outcomes of zoning hearings..