Vermont local moratoria
Every local infrastructure moratorium in the inventory for Vermont, current through September 23, 2026.
1 instrument — 1 in force, 0 pending, 0 past.
State policy is tracked separately: 2 actions (2 bills) in state_legislation.csv. These are not included in the local count above.
| Jurisdiction | Type | Enacted | Sectors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morristown | Town | 2026-08-31 | data center, general | 🟢 Active |
Detailed entries
Morristown
- Type: Town
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: 2026-08-31 (Select Board and Village Board of Trustees joint unanimous vote, dated interim zoning bylaw)
- Normalized date:
2026-08-31(exact) - Duration: Two years from adoption, as an interim zoning bylaw
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center, general
- Moratorium ID:
vt-morristown-2026 - Legal basis: Interim zoning bylaw adopted unanimously by the Morristown Select Board and Village of Morrisville Board of Trustees, dated 2026-08-31, following a selectboard proposal and two public hearings in August 2026
- What prompted it: Town bylaws are silent on data centers and 'high-impact uses'; board wants time for the planning commission to study electric-grid, water, noise, and hazardous-waste impacts before any application is filed, prompted in part by community reaction to a separate large industrial-park/quarry proposal
- Affected projects: None named; officials and residents confirmed no data center has been proposed in Morristown and few parcels are large enough to host one, but the board called the moratorium precautionary.
- Detailed status: Active as of 2026-09-23. The interim zoning bylaw (dated 2026-08-31) blocks consideration of applications for data centers and other defined 'high-impact uses' -- facilities that consume 10+ megawatts of power from any source, use 57,600+ gallons of water per day, discharge hazardous waste, add more than 10 acres of impervious surface, or emit more than 70 decibels of persistent noise -- for two years, with an exemption for small data centers necessary for the administrative/operational support of an existing business, hospital, school, municipal service, or residence. Intended to give the planning commission time to draft permanent zoning addressing such uses; runs through approximately 2028-08-31.
- Outcome: Adopted unanimously by the Select Board and Village Board of Trustees on 2026-08-31 after a public hearing with dozens of residents, most supportive; Morristown is the third Vermont community (after Royalton's permanent five-year ban and South Burlington's zoning amendment) to restrict data centers.
Source: moratorium_inventory.csv · Methodology · Codebook.