To many people, the town's name is synonymous with big-box commercial development and the Jefferson Road-Hylan Drive corridor. It's even been parodied in song, thanks to radio morning-show personality Tony Infantino's "Keep Henrietta Beautiful."

Henrietta's identity is, indirectly, an issue in the town's Republican primary for supervisor. The question: where Henrietta goes from here.

Both incumbent Jim Breese and Town Board member Mike Yudelson say there's more to the town than the mass of stores, restaurants, and offices along Jefferson and Hylan.

The rest of the town looks nothing like that area. Travel south along East River Road or West Henrietta Road and you see churches, modest but well-kept homes, apartment buildings, and the sprawling fields of active farms. Last year, the town issued the most residential building permits in Monroe County: 177, more than triple that of neighboring Pittsford's 55. Only about 11 percent of land in the town is used for commercial purposes, Yudelson says.

The September 18 Republican primary will serve two purposes. As Breese agrees, it's a referendum on his performance. If town residents like the job he's done, they may give him another term.

But in a broader sense, the primary will give residents -the Republicans, at least - a chance to weigh in on the direction of their town. (Republicans make up just under 36 percent of Henrietta's 20,170 registered voters.)

Yudelson, the town committee's endorsed candidate, says Henrietta could build pride by developing a town-center concept for East Henrietta Road between Calkins and Lehigh Station Roads. (He and fellow Town Board member Janet Zinck have been pursuing the idea.) That area now is primarily small businesses and apartment complexes. To develop a Main Street feel in the area, a mixture of uses should be encouraged, Yudelson says, and the town should hold planning sessions and develop design parameters.

"Some of what we really want to do is tied to the vision for Henrietta," he says. "There hasn't been enough of that kind of planning - going after grants that can help the town with developing the character of the town and some of the amenities."

Yudelson also wants the town to be more aggressive in recruiting business, and he wants to increase citizen access and involvement in town government.

Breese says he's accessible. And he responds to Yudelson's "town center" proposal this way: "That's just pie in the sky. There's no specifics on what they mean by ‘town center.'"

The area around the new Wegmans -the area Yudelson has his eye on - is the most likely location for a town center to grow, says Breese. But he says neither Yudelson nor anyone else has come to him with a plan.

Breese, who is backed in the race by county Republican leaders, has been supervisor for the past 22 years. And this isn't his first primary; in 2003, he defeated County Legislator Jack Driscoll.

Throughout his tenure, he says, he's tried to balance commercial and residential development without discouraging either. The town has tried to keep business primarily in the town's northern half. Recent residential growth has been concentrated on the west side, north of the Thruway.

Businesses like the town, he says, because of its location - it's in the center of Monroe County, and major highways pass through it - and its low tax rate. The town has a business-friendly reputation, he says, and he'd like to preserve it.

All that business development boosts the tax base and keeps property taxes down. Henrietta has one of Monroe County's lowest tax rates: $1.21 per $1,000 of assessed value under the 2007 budget. That, Breese says, is a large part of what attracts businesses and homebuyers to Henrietta.

(Yudelson could take credit for the low taxes as well; he's been a Town Board member since 2001.)