A Rowan County Planning Board committee will consider a text amendment to the Rowan County Zoning Ordinance proposed by Amazon Kuiper Infrastructure next week.

The committee meeting will be held on July 13 at 5:30 p.m. in the Planning and Development Conference Room located on the second floor at 402 N. Main St. in Salisbury.

Project Kuiper is the name of a plan by Amazon to provide internet service to more communities using satellites launched into space. As part of that plan, Amazon Kuiper Infrastructure applied for a Special Use Permit in order to build a satellite earth station, according to Planning Board documents.

The Rowan County Board of Commissioners received the recommended application from the Planning Board and approved it on Oct. 17, 2022. However, the Mt. Ulla Historic Preservation Society filed an appeal with the N.C. Superior Court that is causing the Planning Board to revisit the permit.

The text amendment that Amazon Kuiper Infrastructure is proposing to the Planning Board would add specific rules and regulations for a satellite earth station to be built in the county.

The project was approved with an unanimous vote by the commissioners despite multiple residents from the surrounding area speaking out against the project. The original plan was for the station to be built at the 300 block of Upright Road near Mt. Ulla.

The Planning Board’s report at the time noted that Amazon was asking for a special use permit for a wireless support structure. All previous permits granted by the county under that were for monopole, lattice or guyed structures for singular cell towers. Amazon’s plan was to create a facility featuring “six satellite dishes eight feet in diameter each mounted on short poles with an overall height of less than 15 feet,” according to the report.

Amazon’s application for the permit noted that “Project Kuiper is designed specifically to address the digital divide issues that rural communities face.” The application stated that all of Rowan County would receive broadband internet from the station.

The committee meeting next week is open to the public but public comment will not be allowed. Anyone interested is invited to attend via Zoom or phone, but the notice states that there is limited seating for those who attend in-person.

For more information, visit the Planning Board’s website at www.rowancountync.gov/1272/Planning-Board.