A determined petition drive taken up by residents of the Fox Run subdivision may have killed a plan for an 81-unit apartment development near the neighborhood in south Vicksburg.

Several weeks ago, two signs were posted along tree lines that border about 70 acres of undeveloped property in the neighborhood. The signs stated a financing application for low-income housing tax credits was submitted for the site, with a public hearing scheduled today at 5:30 p.m. at Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.

The events of the weeks that have followed have put the proposal on hold and have likely canceled that meeting. At least 30 residents of Fox Run, in the Warrenton area off U.S. 61 South just inside the city limits, have passed out fliers and signed a petition against the development.

Chief among their complaints is their belief that the development would increase crime and decrease their property values.

&#8220I have nothing against low-income people because I worked hard to buy and own my house,” said resident Donna Elzie, one of the organizers of the petition drive, adding that the value of her home and that of others would decrease.

Other houses in the subdivision are typically valued at about $80,000.

Others who signed the petition they had planned to take to the meeting said they feared the development would increase traffic.

The development was proposed by Opportunity Builders, an Oakdale, Calif.-based nonprofit organization that has overseen development of 50 such sites in Tennessee, West Virginia, Michigan, Colorado, Nebraska and California.

The 81-unit complex proposed to border Fox Run would be the largest that Opportunity Builders has developed outside of California in the number of units.

Usually citing high demand for affordable housing in the areas in which they try to develop, the organization makes units available for people who earn at or below 60 percent of the county’s median income. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, that figure in Warren County was $41,706 in 2000.

How the rents would be determined and kept affordable for those who would qualify to live in them are not known, but the group recently proposed a smaller, 49-unit complex in Gillette, Wyo., that would use federal tax credits to attract investors and keep rental prices affordable.

Its president and executive director, Eric Kjelgaard, posted a contact number on the sign to field questions from residents affected by the proposed development, which was to be in the 70 acres of undeveloped woods south of Fox Run.

Kjelgaard was in contact with South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman and Warren County District 4 Supervisor Carl Flanders in the past several weeks concerning the planned public meeting, but was said to express reluctance to appear for any public comment period because of numerous calls from residents of Fox Run who oppose it.

Kjelgaard did not return calls Friday, Monday or this morning.

Flanders said Monday that his last conversation with any organization official was Friday, with the indication given that any gathering at the library would not include an Opportunity Builders official.

Beauman said this morning that his last contact with Kjelgaard was at least two weeks ago, when the two planned to meet this afternoon. No indication of the meeting being canceled had been communicated at that time, Beauman said.