The state Land Use Commission was to consider a petition today to bar such a lodge at Puuanahulu, North Kona.
Some fear allowing the lodge would set a precedent that could open the door to other commercial development on some agricultural land.
But Sandra Pechter Schutte, attorney for developer Big Island Country Club & Estates, which wants to build a members-only, 50-unit lodge, said there will be no precedent because the law requires the county to evaluate every application separately.
She said the lodge is allowed with the proper county permit.
The petition was filed by agricultural consultant Sally Rice and Puuanahulu resident Debralee Kailiwai-Ray.
The controversy is similar to one in South Kona in 1992 in which Akahi Joint Venture tried to build a golf course with a lodge, seeking a county permit instead of going through a more time-consuming change in state land designation.
Kona Councilman Jim Rath joined the outcry against Akahi, calling the lodge a "stealth hotel." The lodge has been stalled.
Now, Big Island Country Club is already building a 27-hole golf course and clubhouse at Puuanahulu, 15 miles north of Kailua-Kona. But Rice, a former county planning commissioner, and Kailiwai-Ray filed a court-like contested case against the lodge with the county Planning Commission.
A decision in that case is pending. Meanwhile Rice and Kailiwai-Ray also went to the state for a ruling by the Land Use Commission.
In the county case, Gregory Pai, head of the Office of State Planning, opposed the project.
He questioned the need for a lodge so close to hotels in South Kohala, about 20 miles away. He also said continued urbanization could raise state infrastructure costs.
Schutte responded, "The Office of State Planning always takes the position you have to go through the Land Use Commission for everything. They want control."
The lodge also has supporters, such as clubhouse employee Tracymae Hao, a member of the same extended family that Kailiwai-Ray comes from.
But Russell Wertz, living in a Kailua-Kona subdivision of one-acre lots similar to the one to be created at Puuanahulu, feared the lodge would set a precedent for other businesses in such subdivisions.
Oceanside 1250, backed by Japan Airlines, also is proposing an 80-unit lodge south of Kailua-Kona. But the company has said it will go through the time-consuming land designation change.