State has plans for new Troop 4 building
A new Delaware State Police Troop 4 is being planned for a 44-acre parcel along Patriots Way between Georgetown and Millsboro. It will replace the old troop along Route 113 at the Shortly Road intersection across from the Delaware Department of Transportation office just south of Georgetown.
The Delaware Office of Management and Budget and the DSP have filed a conditional-use application for the project on the state-owned parcel on the Stockley Center complex.
The troop would be located in an area with Sussex Central High School, Howard T. Ennis School, a Delaware State Service Center and offices, and the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
During a Nov. 30 Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission public hearing, Jonathan Richard, an engineer with the Becker Morgan Group, said the new troop will replace the existing facility, which is an old Nanticoke Homes (which went out of business in 2002) modular building, less than five miles down Route 113. “They also have room for expansion,” he said.
Sussex County Council has scheduled a hearing on the application for 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 23, in the county administration building, 2 The Circle, Georgetown.
The main troop building would be 46,000 square feet with an auditorium and State Bureau of Investigation office where fingerprinting is done.
The site plan also includes a 17,500-square-foot maintenance building, a grassy K-9 area, police driving training area, 355 parking spaces, and a fenced and screened impound lot at the rear of the property.
Access would be from Patriots Way, with a public and police entrance/exit and a gate-restricted entrance/exit.
The plan includes public parking along the front of the troop along Patriots Way. Richard said landscaping, buffers and screening would be provided.
Water would be provided by Artisan Water Co. and sewer service by the Town of Millsboro.
A similar project to relocate Troop 7 from Route 1 to Mulberry Knoll Road near Lewes was completed in December 2019.
About the Stockley Center
The Stockley Center is a 50-bed intermediate care facility for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
