WEST VINCENT - In this corner of rural northern Chester County, where miles of post-and-rail fences trace the landscape like eyeliner, signs have suddenly materialized along the highways posing the universal question: Why?

Turns out there is a very local answer. The bright, black-on-yellow signs are a provocative protest against Villanova builder David Della Porta's plans to build 216 apartments at Ludwigs Corner, an area still known for the annual Labor Day horse show.

Tonight, a group of residents and their attorneys are expected to appear before the West Vincent Township Zoning Hearing Board to appeal a new township ordinance that permits high-density housing such as the proposed apartment complex.

"All of a sudden what's being proposed is a three-story, super-high-density apartment mix stuck in the middle of single-family properties," said Robert W. Frye, president of Concerned Citizens of Nantmeal Road, which is fighting the complex. "There's no mandate to do it, there's no logical planning reason to do it, so why are they doing it?"

Fronefield Crawford, West Vincent's planning solicitor, said there is an underlying logic: smart growth. By building 216 units on an 18-acre plot, the township gets 102 acres protected as open space - a good trade-off, Crawford said. The builder thinks so, too.

"This proposal really is a model for smart growth," Della Porta said. "You have over 85 percent of the property dedicated to the township for open space." And the township didn't have to float a bond issue or raise taxes to pay for it, he said.

But the campaign against his plan has attracted enough controversy that the township is holding tonight's 7 o'clock meeting at the Ludwigs Corner Fire Hall to accommodate the expected crowds.

Della Porta at first proposed building 90 single-family homes on the entire 120-acre corn and alfalfa farm. His current plan calls for eight apartment buildings, storage sheds, and a clubhouse.

If approved, it would be the largest apartment complex within the Route 100 corridor from Eagle to just south of Pottstown, ratcheting up the development stakes in this fast-growing region of the county.

It is also close to Weatherstone, another major project at Ludwigs Corner now being built by the Hankin Group. That development on 300 acres consists of 273 single-family homes and townhouses, 150,000 square feet of retail and office space, a branch of the Chester County Library, and 180 acres of open space, enough ground for a working farm.

Though some nearby northern Chester County developments have housing densities similar to what Della Porta is proposing, residents have worried that this apartment rental project will destroy the area's appeal.

At least one local real estate agent agrees.

"People are interested in the area for its rural character," said Barbara McMeekin, with Prudential Fox & Roach's Exton office. "If you build one apartment complex, that sets a precedent, and if more and more come in, then the area may not be attractive any longer."