U. Merion Plan For A Genuardi's Wins Big Step Officials Rezoned A Henderson Road Tract. It Also Would Have Apartments And An Assisted-living Facility.

UPPER MERION — In what almost looked like a pep rally for Genuardi's Family Markets, the Upper Merion supervisors voted to rezone a disputed tract on Henderson Road last night, making way for a new grocery store in the township and ending one of the longest zoning arguments in township history.

The land in question, a 32.5-acre site near the intersection of Route 202 and Henderson Road, has long been zoned for heavy-industrial use. The zoning has been debated because, if unchanged, it could have been used for a trucking facility or something equally undesirable to residents.

King of Prussia mall developer Kravco Co.'s plan for the site, in addition to the 54-000-square-foot Genuardi's, calls for 128 apartments and a 5-acre assisted-living facility.

With the supervisors' approval, 14 acres are now zoned for commercial use and 18 acres are zoned for residential use. Kravco is now required to submit land-development plans. If those are approved, Kravco could break ground by summer.

This is the second time Kravco has requested a zoning change for the land. It was turned down in March last year for a plan that included ``big-box'' stores, such as Target, which some residents strongly opposed. The dispute over zoning for the land dates back at least five years.

A redevelopment task force, appointed last year to decide the best zoning classifications for several pieces of open land, split early last year over what to recommend. Some members wanted retail, others a residential and commercial mix.

Kravco's new plan to rezone the site includes more than $2 million in road improvements, most of which is intended for a bypass road that would run from Henderson Road around the back of the site to Route 202. The stretch of Henderson Road that fronts the property would be widened.

The assisted-living facility was a sticking point. Supervisor Ralph Volpe said he wanted to know that Kravco had a firm commitment from an assisted-living developer, something that Kravco president Lewis Gantman said he could not promise.

However, Gantman said that he was actively pursuing a deal with two assisted-living developers and would continue to do so until the end of 2000. Volpe and Supervisor Barbara Frailey, who also voiced concern about the assisted-living part, said they were satisfied with that agreement.

Supervisor Chuck Volpi was the lone dissenter, saying he believed having residential and commercial properties so close together was a big ``no-no'' and that the bypass road would do nothing for traffic.

More than 60 Genuardi's employees and customers attended the meeting and cheered loudly when the rezoning plan was approved. Only a handful of neighbors spoke out against the plan, and even they wanted a Genuardi's, just not the rest of the plan.