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Editor’s Note: This is the final story in a three part series stemming from Chamber President Marshall Ramsey’s discussion at the Women in Business Meeting Friday.

Social media ‘experts’ may claim knowledge, but they are not always smack in the middle of it when it comes to realistic assessment.

Take, for example, the term Urban Growth Boundary. Just the mention of it can send folks into an online frenzy.

“It’s not what’s on Facebook,” Morristown Area Chamber of Commerce President Marshall Ramsey said. “The city will only annex if a property owner requests to be annexed.”

For example, Ramsey would really like his neighborhood to be annexed. But it probably won’t be included in the upcoming expansion of the growth boundary since the cost could be as much as $2 million to bring sewer to the 24 houses.

“The purpose of the growth boundary is to strategically identify parts of the county that can be brought into the city – that the city can grow into and still provide proper services. A lot of those are going to be east, some will be west,” Ramsey said.

With regard to housing, Morristown has historically been slow growing.

Before the boom of the last several years, the city had been issuing on average 52 residential building permits per year. Now it is averaging 1,000 per year.

Throughout the past few decades, Morristown and Hamblen County have spent tens of millions on three industrial parks to provide jobs that have extended to workers in Cocke, Jefferson, Grainger, Greene counties.

“Those workers would, in days past, spend part of their paychecks at Lowe’s in Morristown for example,” Ramsey said. “Now those counties have Lowe’s and many of the same amenities we do. So they take their paychecks home with them. So, greedily, I want those people to live here, shop here and pay their taxes here.”

The community’s housing growth, historically, typically came from the northeast.

“Now, we’re seeing growth come from the west: California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington,” Ramsey said. “The challenge for first-time buyers is that these folks are coming in with cash in hand.”

“The East end has seen a lot of new housing growth, so my projection for next five to 10 years, you’ll see a resurgence in commercial and retail based on some of these urban growth boundaries we’re trying to achieve. You’ll see some of the housing spread out more.”

A unique fact about Morristown: College Square Mall is at 95% capacity.

“Our mall is full. We still support a regional mall. College Square management has done a really good job of being progressive: identifying low producing companies and buying them out of leases early in order to replace with companies better suited for the community. You see more outward-facing stores, that conforms to what people want with more outdoor malls, along with adding standalone restaurants to frontage property.”

Originally, Darden announced to the Chamber they would be developing an Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse on the East end of town. The numbers for Olive Garden and Red Lobster tanked during the housing crisis, according to Ramsey, so they decided to just develop Longhorn. Several years later, Darden brought in Olive Garden and the company is now constructing a Cheddars in the Merchants Greene area.

Ramey’s audience on Feb. 3, the Women in Business gathering at TCAT Morristown, began calling out their preferences for major retailers to locate in Morristown during the question and answer session.

Multiple shouts for Publix, Target, Trader Joe’s and Costco received a negative head shake from Ramsey, who relented by predicting a “maybe” for Publix in the next five years.

“We’re a discount community,” he said. “If you see the number of ‘thrift’ stores, like Ross and TJ Maxx, we are discount shoppers.”

His comments that current residents might experience sticker shock from stores like Target and Publix were countered with a chorus of assurances from the crowd: “We’ll be there every day.”

Grocery prices differ from East to West Morristown, according to Ramsey, who reported that Chamber staff check the prices on a regular basis.

How is it that Greeneville got a Publix before we did?

“They look at overall population,” Ramsey said. “They are closer to 90,000 there.”

Who decides where stop lights go?

The city. Ramsey said with certainty there will be a traffic light added to West AJ Highway in front of the Cheddars build. The traffic light at Kidwell’s Ridge road will be converted into a straight thorough way into the new area of development. A new traffic light will be added at South Bellwood Road.

The Chamber is not in favor of placing traffic lights on Highway 160, Ramsey said.

“That road is a bypass, it is not for stopping every five minutes.”

With regard to the bump in housing and retail creating more traffic problems, Ramsey said most complaints and concerns are generated by people who have always lived in the area.

“People who have lived somewhere else will say, ‘You don’t know what traffic is.’ On 160, we can be from East to West in six to eight minutes,” he said.

For example, Ramsey’s brother who lives in South Florida can see the Southern District Courthouse in Miami from his home, but the route to get there, seven miles, will take him up to two hours to drive – “Seven miles here is seven minutes,” Ramsey said.

“Our perspective is a little different here in this community. We always want things on ‘my’ side of town. I think we’re all lucky to have what we do have here, based on our size,” Ramsey said.

Residents of more rural communities, similar in size, have to commute to enjoy a sit-down dinner.

Ramsey often addresses local high school students and tells them: “My goal for you is not to stay here – your mom and dad may have different ideas – but I want you gone for five years. I want you to see other parts of the country. I want you to understand how good you had it here. And there’s a good chance, when it’s time to raise a family, you’ll be back.”