SALISBURY — A text amendment to the Rowan County Zoning Ordinance to allow for satellite earth stations was approved by the county planning board during their meeting Monday and that decision will be forwarded for considering to the county commissioners.

The amendment comes after Amazon Kuiper Infrastructure, which is related to the larger Amazon brand, applied in June of last year for a special-use permit to build a satellite earth station that they said would allow for greater broadband internet access across Rowan and the surrounding areas. The special-use permit was granted by the Rowan County Board of Commissioners, but the Mt. Ulla Historic Preservation Society appealed the decision in Superior Court, citing unspecified errors in the county’s consideration of the proposal.

As a result of the challenge, Amazon submitted a text proposal that would create specific rules surrounding satellite earth stations in the county’s ordinances. Previously, all wireless data and telecommunication support structures were in the form of a tower, but Amazon’s request was for six satellite dishes mounted on short poles.

Two points of contention came up during the planning board’s discussion of the text amendment.

One issue raised was the change from a special-use permit to a special requirement. Special-use permits require quasi-judicial hearings, which theoretically allow for public input. But changing it to a special requirement would make any decisions on satellite earth stations entirely administrative, which means that county staff would review the request for the station and decide whether to allow it or not, with no opportunity for public comment.

“I think what this proposal is, is a run-around process which will eliminate the participation of the people. It’s a movement from democracy to autocracy, it’s a movement where we’re not going to let the people know what’s going on,” said James Rollins, a member of the Mt. Ulla Historic Preservation Society.

Planning board member Gregory Hannold also echoed Rollins’ concern, saying that he was worried about removing avenues for public input.

Stewart’s response was that the quasi-judicial hearings that special-use permits entail do not actually provide an avenue for people to address concerns about project. Any testimony during a quasi-judicial hearing must be evidence-based, meaning that a citizen must be able to reasonably point to why a petitioner did not meet the permit requirements with specific evidence. The board of commissioners cannot make discretionary decisions on a permit, meaning that state law states a permit must be issued if the requirements are met.

“Special-use permits are not fun for anybody, the public included. More or less, if you don’t know how to participate, then you don’t know you can’t come and just say that ‘I don’t like this use.’ It’s supposed to be, ‘why did they not meet the requirements.’ Who do you have to hire for that? An engineer or an attorney?” said Stewart.

The other point of contention was centered around the fact that it originally stated the stations could not be built within a certain distance around Mid-Carolina Regional Airport but did not include Gold Hill Airport. Shane Stewart, a senior planner, said that staff included only Mid-Carolina because it was the only public airport in the county. But the concern that prompted the restriction was a possible interference for aircraft, so the planning board agreed that rather than mention airports at all, they would rely instead on the Federal Aviation Administration to rule on any potential problems with a No Hazard to Air Navigation determination.

Other rules in the amendment included that the station can not be taller than 20 feet and the equipment compound cannot exceed two acres and must be a minimum of 500 feet from any existing home at the time of construction. The compound must also be screened by a type A buffer which normally consists of a row of evergreen trees or a six-foot-tall masonry wall. Any internet provider wishing to build a station must also provide the FAA determination, a Federal Communications Commission license to operate, and a No Adverse Effect determination from the NC State Historic Preservation Office.

The text amendment was approved by a vote of six to one, with Hannold being the only board member to vote against it. It now moves to the board of commissioners, which has the final say on the amendment and what is included.