Pennsylvania local moratoria
Every local infrastructure moratorium in the inventory for Pennsylvania, current through August 19, 2026.
9 instruments — 8 in force, 0 pending, 1 past.
State policy is tracked separately: 22 actions (22 bills) in state_legislation.csv. These are not included in the local count above.
| Jurisdiction | Type | Enacted | Sectors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bensalem Township | Township | 2026-06-08 | data center, solar, wind | 🟢 Active |
| Brookville Borough | Other | 2026-06-16 | data center | 🟢 Active |
| Butler Township | Township | 2026-05-12 | data center | 🟢 Active |
| Center Township | Township | 2026-06-10 | data center, general | 🟢 Active |
| Hazle Township | Township | 2026-06-08 | data center | 🟢 Active |
| Lycoming County | County | 2026-06-18 | data center | 🟢 Active |
| Montour County | County | 2025-11-18 | data center | ⚪ Replaced |
| Muncy Township | Township | 2026-04-28 | data center | 🟢 Active |
| Warrington Township | Township | 2026-05-13 | data center | 🟢 Active |
Detailed entries
Bensalem Township
- Type: Township
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: Township Council adopted a curative-amendment resolution by a 5-0 vote on 2026-06-08.
- Normalized date:
2026-06-08(exact) - Duration: 180-day municipal curative-amendment period after declaring portions of the zoning ordinance substantively invalid as to data centers, solar energy, and wind energy. Official minutes describe the protected period as a 180-day moratorium.
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center, solar, wind
- Moratorium ID:
pa-bensalem-township-2026 - Legal basis: Township Council resolution, Municipal Curative Amendment (Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code Section 609.2)
- What prompted it: Zoning ordinance lacked provisions for data centers, solar energy, and wind energy.
- Affected projects: —
- Detailed status: Active as of 2026-07-31; 180-day curative-amendment period from 2026-06-08. No data center application was pending at adoption.
- Outcome: —
Brookville Borough
- Type: Other
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: Borough Council reportedly voted unanimously on 2026-06-16 for a 180-day moratorium.
- Normalized date:
2026-06-16(unverified) - Duration: 180-day moratorium on data center development; also bars data centers from using borough water during the pause.
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
pa-brookville-borough-2026 - Legal basis: Borough Council action reportedly adopting a 180-day moratorium; enacted ordinance or resolution and official minutes not located
- What prompted it: Water-resource concerns tied to potential nearby data center projects; no formal application was pending.
- Affected projects: —
- Detailed status: Reported active as of 2026-07-31; enacted text not located. [VERIFY instrument number; primary source (news-only evidence) not confirmed at confidence 0.55 in the 2026-07 refresh]
- Outcome: —
Butler Township
- Type: Township
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: Board of Supervisors adopted Resolution No. 05122026 on 2026-05-12.
- Normalized date:
2026-05-12(exact) - Duration: Declares the township zoning ordinance substantively invalid for not defining or regulating data centers, triggering a 180-day municipal curative-amendment period during which new data center applications are paused from vesting under the prior ordinance.
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
pa-butler-township-2026 - Legal basis: Resolution No. 05122026, Municipal Curative Amendment (Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code Section 609.2)
- What prompted it: Zoning ordinance did not define or regulate data centers.
- Affected projects: —
- Detailed status: Active as of 2026-07-31; 180-day curative-amendment period from 2026-05-12.
- Outcome: —
Center Township
- Type: Township
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: Board of Supervisors reportedly voted unanimously on 2026-06-10 to approve a curative amendment.
- Normalized date:
2026-06-10(unverified) - Duration: 180-day pause halting data center and power-generation-plant-system development while the township prepares zoning standards.
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center, general
- Moratorium ID:
pa-center-township-2026 - Legal basis: Curative amendment reportedly approved by the Board of Supervisors; enacted resolution or official minutes not located
- What prompted it: No data center development request had been received; adopted proactively.
- Affected projects: —
- Detailed status: Reported active as of 2026-07-31; enacted text not located. [VERIFY instrument number; primary source (news-only evidence) not confirmed at confidence 0.55 in the 2026-07 refresh]
- Outcome: —
Hazle Township
- Type: Township
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: 2026-06-08, Hazle Township (Luzerne County) Board of Supervisors, unanimous vote adopting a curative amendment.
- Normalized date:
2026-06-08(exact) - Duration: 180 days from adoption (to approximately 2026-12-05).
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
pa-hazle-township-2026 - Legal basis: Municipal curative amendment adopted by the Hazle Township Board of Supervisors, temporarily invalidating portions of the township zoning ordinance for 180 days on the stated grounds that the ordinance is deficient because it does not address data centers (instrument number not located).
- What prompted it: Followed sustained community opposition ("Project Hazelnot") to NorthPoint Development's proposed ~1,300-acre, 15-building "Project Hazelnut" data-center campus with substation, which the township had already rejected in November 2025 and which a Luzerne County judge ruled against in spring 2026.
- Affected projects: NorthPoint Development's proposed 'Project Hazelnut' data-center campus, previously denied by the township and by a county court.
- Detailed status: Active as of 2026-07-31 (expires approximately 2026-12-05).
- Outcome: Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a 180-day curative amendment pausing consideration of new data-center applications while permanent zoning language is drafted.
Lycoming County
- Type: County
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: County commissioners reportedly approved a curative-amendment resolution on 2026-06-18.
- Normalized date:
2026-06-18(unverified) - Duration: 180-day municipal curative-amendment period after declaring the county zoning ordinance substantially invalid for lacking appropriate regulation of data centers and related uses; affects municipalities participating in the county zoning partnership.
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
pa-lycoming-county-2026 - Legal basis: County commissioners' curative-amendment resolution (Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code Section 609.2); adopted resolution text not located
- What prompted it: County zoning ordinance lacked appropriate regulation of data centers and related uses.
- Affected projects: —
- Detailed status: Reported active as of 2026-07-31; adopted resolution not located. [VERIFY instrument number not confirmed at confidence 0.55 in the 2026-07 refresh]
- Outcome: —
Montour County
- Type: County
- Status: ⚪ Replaced
- Date enacted: 2025-11-18
- Normalized date:
2025-11-18(exact) - Duration: 180 days, expiring about 2026-05-17 unless extended or superseded
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
pa-montour-county-2025 - Legal basis: Resolution R-11-19-2025 (the moratorium, now superseded); Ordinance No. 1-2026, the 'Data Center Land Use Ordinance,' enacted by the Montour County Board of Commissioners on April 14, 2026, amending the County Zoning Ordinance to define and regulate Data Centers and Data Center Accessory Uses.
- What prompted it: Concern over potential data centers or similar large-scale digital/technology facilities; county needed time for Planning Commission ad-hoc committee ordinance work
- Affected projects: No pending data center applications at enactment; Talen Energy later sought rezoning of Anthony Township parcels for a data-center-related industrial use
- Detailed status: Superseded. The Montour County Board of Commissioners enacted Ordinance No. 1-2026 ('Data Center Land Use Ordinance') on April 14, 2026 -- before the moratorium's own nominal 2026-05-17 expiration -- amending the County Zoning Ordinance to permit Data Centers as a Conditional Use in the Industrial Zoning District, subject to detailed siting, setback/buffer-yard, noise, lighting, and 'Sensitive Receptor' protections and a Conditional Use review process. The moratorium (Resolution R-11-19-2025) is no longer the operative instrument; Ordinance 1-2026 governs data center siting in Montour County as of 2026-07-31.
- Outcome: Following the 2026-02-12 denial of Talen Energy's zoning map amendment, the county completed and enacted the Data Center Land Use Ordinance (Ordinance 1-2026) on 2026-04-14, permitting data centers by conditional use in the Industrial Zoning District rather than prohibiting them outright.
Muncy Township
- Type: Township
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: Board of Supervisors approved a temporary moratorium at an April 28, 2026 special meeting; reported by the Sun-Gazette on 2026-05-01.
- Normalized date:
2026-04-28(exact) - Duration: Nine months, or until the township adopts zoning regulations addressing data centers, whichever occurs first. Bars acceptance or review of listed municipal applications for data centers, data center campuses, high-intensity data processing facilities, and substantially similar uses during that period.
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
pa-muncy-township-2026 - Legal basis: Board of Supervisors motion/temporary moratorium adopted at the April 28, 2026 special meeting; no separately numbered ordinance or resolution identified in the sources reviewed
- What prompted it: Lack of existing zoning provisions addressing data centers.
- Affected projects: —
- Detailed status: Active as of 2026-07-31; nine-month pause from the 2026-04-28 vote runs to approximately late January 2027 unless superseded by earlier zoning adoption.
- Outcome: —
Warrington Township
- Type: Township
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: Board of Supervisors adopted Resolution 2026-09 on 2026-05-13, formally ratifying an administrative pause the township says began with a March 11, 2026 motion.
- Normalized date:
2026-05-13(range) - Duration: Pause on applications for data center-related uses while the township prepares tailored zoning standards and pursues a municipal curative amendment. No explicit day count for the pause was located.
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
pa-warrington-township-2026 - Legal basis: Resolution 2026-09 (standalone text not located); described in follow-up Resolution 2026-15 as ratifying a March 11, 2026 administrative pause and pursuing a municipal curative amendment
- What prompted it: Township preparing tailored zoning standards for data centers.
- Affected projects: —
- Detailed status: Reported active as of 2026-07-31, per the official follow-up resolution; standalone text of the original May 13 resolution was not located. [VERIFY details not confirmed at confidence 0.65 in the 2026-07 refresh]
- Outcome: —
Source: moratorium_inventory.csv · Methodology · Codebook.