SALISBURY — The Rowan County Board of Commissioners approved a change to the county’s ordinances that would create a standard for satellite earth stations during their meeting Monday night. The text amendment had already received the recommendation of the Rowan County Planning Board during their August meeting.

The changes to the ordinance came after Amazon Kuiper asked for a special use permit in 2022 to build a station. The county granted the permit, but the Mt. Ulla Historic Preservation Society appealed the decision to N.C. Superior Court. After the issues raised by the court case, Amazon submitted the now-approved text amendment to create a separate standard to prevent any future issues. Amazon eventually pulled its name from the petition because of a settlement with the preservation society, according to a memo from planning staff.

The permit was required to be submitted under ordinances which assumed wireless communication structures were towers. The new ordinance defines a satellite earth station as a compound with satellite dishes longer than two meters in diameter and shorter than 20 feet tall.

New ordinances state that any compound is now required to be less than two acres in total and more than 500 feet away from any houses. It also states that they must be screened by a six-foot-tall fence and same height buffer.

The main hoops that developers will need to jump through will be acquiring permits from multiple state and federal agencies. Anyone who wants to build a satellite earth station will need an Federal Communications Commission license to operate, a determination from the Federal Aviation Agency that the compound will not interfere with air travel and a “No Adverse Effect” determination from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office.

After county planner Shane Stewart presented this information, the board voted unanimously to approve the amendment to the county’s ordinances.