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SL2013-185 Session Law 2013-185 Page 7
<br />(8a) Water tower. – A water storage tank, a standpipe, or an elevated tank
<br />situated on a support structure originally constructed for use as a reservoir or
<br />facility to store or deliver water.
<br />(9) Wireless facility. – The set of equipment and network components, exclusive
<br />of the underlying wireless support structure or tower, including antennas,
<br />transmitters, receivers, receivers base stations, power supplies, cabling, and
<br />associated equipment necessary to provide wireless data and wireless
<br />telecommunications services to a discrete geographic area.
<br />(10) Wireless support structure. – A new or existing structure, such as a
<br />monopole, lattice tower, or guyed tower that is designed to support or
<br />capable of supporting wireless facilities. A utility pole is not a wireless
<br />support structure.
<br />"§ 153A-349.51A. Local authority.
<br />A county may plan for and regulate the siting or modification of wireless support structures
<br />and wireless facilities in accordance with land development regulations and in conformity with
<br />this Part. Except as expressly stated, nothing in this Part shall limit a county from regulating
<br />applications to construct, modify, or maintain wireless support structures, or construct, modify,
<br />maintain, or collocate wireless facilities on a wireless support structure based on consideration
<br />of land use, public safety, and zoning considerations, including aesthetics, landscaping,
<br />structural design, setbacks, and fall zones, or State and local building code requirements,
<br />consistent with the provisions of federal law provided in G.S. 153A-349.50. For purposes of
<br />this Part, public safety includes, without limitation, federal, State, and local safety regulations
<br />but does not include requirements relating to radio frequency emissions of wireless facilities.
<br />"§ 153A-349.52. Construction of new wireless support structures or substantial
<br />modifications of facilities and wireless support structures.
<br />(a) A county may plan for and regulate the siting or modification of wireless support
<br />structures and wireless facilities in accordance with land development regulations and in
<br />conformity with this Part. Except as expressly stated, nothing in this Part shall limit a county
<br />from regulating applications to construct, modify, or maintain wireless support structures, or
<br />construct, modify, maintain, or collocate wireless facilities on a wireless support structure
<br />based on consideration of land use, public safety, and zoning considerations, including
<br />aesthetics, landscaping, structural design, setbacks, and fall zones, or State and local building
<br />code requirements, consistent with the provisions of federal law provided in G.S. 153A-349.50.
<br />For purposes of this Part, public safety shall not include requirements relating to radio
<br />frequency emissions of wireless facilities.
<br />(b) Any person that proposes to construct a new wireless support structure or
<br />substantially modify a wireless support structure or wireless facility within the planning and
<br />land-use jurisdiction of a county must do both of the following:
<br />(1) Submit a completed application with the necessary copies and attachments to
<br />the appropriate planning authority.
<br />(2) Comply with any local ordinances concerning land use and any applicable
<br />permitting processes.
<br />(c) A county's review of an application for the placement, construction, placement or
<br />construction of a new wireless support structure or substantial modification of a wireless
<br />facility or wireless support structure shall only address public safety, land development, or
<br />zoning issues. In reviewing an application, the county may not require information on or
<br />evaluate an applicant's business decisions about its designed service, customer demand for its
<br />service, or quality of its service to or from a particular area or site. A county may not require
<br />information that concerns the specific need for the wireless support structure, including if the
<br />service to be provided from the wireless support structure is to add additional wireless coverage
<br />or additional wireless capacity. A county may not require proprietary, confidential, or other
<br />business information to justify the need for the new wireless support structure, including
<br />propagation maps and telecommunication traffic studies. In reviewing an application the county
<br />may review the following:
<br />(1) Applicable public safety, land use, or zoning issues addressed in its adopted
<br />regulations, including aesthetics, landscaping, land-use based location
<br />priorities, structural design, setbacks, and fall zones.
<br />(2) Information or materials directly related to an identified public safety, land
<br />development or zoning issue including evidence that no existing or
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