Sussex County Board of Adjustment unanimously approves Allen Harim’s special use exception

The former Vlasic pickle plant located in Millsboro will now be home to Allen Harim's corporate offices and a chicken de-boning operation.

The Sussex County Board of Adjustment unanimously voted on Monday to approve the use of 70,000 square feet of the 453,000 square feet for the special use. 20,000 square feet will be designated for corporate offices and 50,000 square feet will be for the de-boning operation. The former pickle plant is land zoned heavy industrial and was used to process pickles for several decades.

According to the proposal an estimated 2 million pounds of processed chicken per week would be sent from the Harbeson plant to the Millsboro plant for de-boning, packaging, and shipping. The waste material from the de-boning process would then be sent back to the Harbeson plant to be disposed of. A production cap will be placed on the plant and no chickens will be slaughtered.

State officials believe the plant would bring in as many as 165 jobs to the area.