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Recent discussions around the rezoning of a farm into a residential designation, planned for a large development comprising well over 400 homes has ignited debate again, about the nature of development in Hamblen County.

Many have voiced concern about the loss of local farming land/community and the growth of Morristown into an urban center for the region, but while a drive around the area might suggest a tension that is relatively evenly matched, numbers tell a different story.

Hamblen County is an industrial-based community, by far.

First of all, Hamblen County is the center of the Morristown Metropolitan Statistical Area. Metropolitan Statistical Areas are centered around counties containing a census-defined urban area with a population of 50,000 or more.

This kind of population core means that the Lakeway Area has grown from its agricultural roots.

According to data pulled from statisticalatlas.com, which itself pulls from federal census data, manufacturing is the No. 1 employment base in the county with nearly 7,000 employees in the county, and agriculture is responsible for just over 200 jobs, though the data doesn’t account for seasonal workers.

Those 200 jobs are different than data from the USDA, which placed the number of agriculture “producers” at 765, but data variation in methodology, terminology and the time of collection can explain such differences.

Regardless, the numbers on a multitude of datasets across Census, Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis and more tell the same story: Hamblen County is an industrial hub that has some agriculture contributors.

In the same federal report released in 2022, the Census of Agriculture reports agriculture sales in Hamblen County accounted for around $24,242,000.

In contrast, a BEA report from 2024 shows $1.5 billion in GDP in Hamblen County from manufacturing.

“Industrial development has long been a community leader for job and tax growth in Hamblen County,” Morristown Area Chamber of Commerce President Marshall Ramsey said. “In most communities taxes are generated at a rate of about 70% through residential taxes, and 30% commercial and industrial. Hamblen County is exactly the opposite with almost 70% of our taxes being generated by industrial and commercial consumers while residential development accounts for around 30% of the tax base.

“That is why Morristown and Hamblen County have long emphasized industrial growth, as it is not just a job and paycheck driver, it serves to spread the tax burden and allow our community to enjoy much lower taxes than surrounding communities.”

In the same way that industrial growth has provided for jobs and a good tax base, concentrated residential development has meant Hamblen County’s population density resembles nearby Sullivan and Washington counties.

All of this development is a result of growth that is unprecedented in recent history for Hamblen County.

New jobs in the industrial sector that drives the economy in Hamblen County has resulted in growth in other sectors and has placed extraordinary pressure on the housing market. The result is increased demand due to low supply and that demand/supply imbalance is causing housing affordability issues.

Average home and rent prices appear to have outpaced the income of many area residents, and new home sales are frequently purchased by out-of-state transplants.

So, when land, especially adjacent to or in the city limits like the Howell Farm, comes up for sale, the questions city/county/community planners are asking revolve around the future and current state of Hamblen County and Morristown — a statistically metropolitan, economically industrial, distinct urban hub in East Tennessee.