Administrative review and approval process.

Winston-Salem Code of Ordinances § 79-4

in effect

Sec. 79-4. - Administrative review and approval process. This section applies to applications for permits that meet the requirements specified in subsection 79-3(a) and/or 79-5(a). (1) Review for completeness. An application subject to this administrative review section shall be deemed complete, unless the city provides notice, in writing, to the applicant within 30 days of submission or within some other mutually agreed-upon timeframe. The notice shall identify the deficiencies in the application which, if cured, would make the application complete. The application shall be deemed complete on resubmission if the additional materials cure the deficiencies identified. (2) Applications. Applicants who/which intend to submit application with more than ten proposed location sites shall be required to schedule and attend a pre-application conference with staff from the city's engineering records department to discuss the application prior to its submission. (3) Time limits for review of completed applications. An application for a collocation, which is neither an eligible facilities request, per subsection 79-4(5), below, nor the installation of a new wireless support structure, utility pole, or city-owned pole, and is subject to this administrative review section shall be processed on a non-discriminatory basis and shall be deemed approved if the city fails to approve or deny the application within 45 days from the time the application is deemed complete or, alternatively, within some other mutually agreed-upon timeframe, to which the city and the applicant agree. (4) Denial of permit. The city may deny an application for a permit, subject to this administrative review section, on the basis that it does not meet: (1) the applicable codes, the city Code, or the UDO, (2) local code provisions or regulations that concern public safety, objective design standards for decorative utility poles, utility poles, generally, or reasonable and non-discriminatory stealth and concealment requirements, including screening and landscaping for ground-mounted equipment (ground cabinets, etc.), (3) public safety and reasonable spacing requirements for poles and ground-mounted equipment in the right-of-way, or (4) local, state, and federal historic district laws and regulations in and/or enacted pursuant to or consistent with Part 3C of Article 19 of Chapter 160A of the North Carolina General Statutes, 47 U.S.C. 332(c)(7), 47 U.S.C. 1455(a), or the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, 54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq. The city shall (i) document the basis for a denial, including the specific code provisions on which the denial was based, and (ii) send the documentation to the applicant on or before the day the city denies an application. The applicant may cure the deficiencies identified by the city and resubmit the application within 30 days of the denial, without paying an additional application fee. The city shall approve, deny, or identify any continuing deficiencies in, the revised application within 30 days of the date on which the application was re-submitted. Any subsequent review shall be limited to the deficiencies cited in the prior denial. If the cited deficiencies are not cured within 120 calendar days of the date of the city's written notice to the applicant, thereof, the application shall automatically be deemed withdrawn on the 120th calendar day. (5) Review of eligible facilities requests. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the city shall approve and may not deny qualifying applications for eligible facilities requests, which meet the requirements of federal and state law, within 60 days from the date of the application's submission or 45 days from the date the application is deemed complete, whichever comes first, or, alternatively, within some other mutually-agreed time frame, to which the city and the applicant agree. The city shall process and review all qualifying eligible facilities requests according to the requirements and procedures established in 47 CFR 1.40001(c) and G.S. 160A-400.53. (Ord. No. 29198, 8-21-17)

Source: City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Code of Ordinances, City Charter and Related Laws (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/nc/winston-salem/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIIICOOR_CH79SMWIFA_S79-4ADREAPPRFetched: 11/1/2026