What is a moratorium?
A moratorium is a temporary pause that a local government — usually a city, county, or township — places on accepting or approving certain kinds of new development. Most run 6 to 12 months and are intended to give the local government time to study impacts and write permanent rules. Read the FAQ →
Top 13 states by moratorium count
These thirteen states account for more than four-fifths of all identified instruments. Click a state to see every moratorium in plain English.
Use the data
📊 Spreadsheet
The 222-row inventory as a CSV — opens in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers, or any tool. Includes enacted_status, moratorium_id, and lat/lon for instant mapping.
🐍 Python / R / pandas
Load directly from GitHub raw, no clone required. The data folder guide has working snippets.
Browse data files →📚 Citation
The dataset is published under CC-BY-4.0. Cite the working paper or this dataset directly. CITATION.cff in the repo gives GitHub a "Cite this repository" button.
Methodology
The dataset is built from approximately 4,400 original documents (ordinances, resolutions, board minutes, news articles) collected via AI-assisted research agents across all 50 states. 348 moratorium texts have been read line-by-line and coded against a 44-clause taxonomy. Geocoded coordinates were triple-checked across 89 verifications with zero confirmed errors. Full methodology → · Codebook · Known gaps
Related projects by Michael Bommarito
This dataset is one of several public resources tracking the U.S. data center buildout and its community impacts.
servercountry.org
An educational resource on the $1 trillion AI data center buildout: 10+ explainer articles, a 604-project database across all 50 states, glossary of 52+ terms, plus the full book This Is Server Country (402 pages).
Visit →fightadatacenter.com
A citizen's guide for community members facing a data center proposal: ten-chapter book on local, state, and federal strategies, plus a free abridged online version with checklists and templates.
Visit →michaelbommarito.com
Personal site of the dataset's author. Builder, researcher, and educator working at the intersection of food systems, legal technology, AI, and open source. Co-founder of Alea Institute and 273 Ventures.
Visit →Status & contributions
This is v2026.04.2. Found a moratorium we missed, or an error to correct? Open an issue on GitHub. Refreshes are roughly quarterly while the moratorium wave is active.