"It's a very tragic situation," said Robert Baker, an attorney representing 96 of the 156 Hokuli'a lot buyers. "Our clients just want to live there. They don't want to sue the county. They don't want to sue the state, which is coming. But they are left with very few options."

Baker, with the California firm Baker Keener & Nahra LLP, said his clients are paying property taxes, can't build homes and haven't been able to capitalize on rising property values. "They don't have anyplace to go," he said. "They can't do anything with (their property)."

Baker sent a letter to Big Island Mayor Harry Kim last week, stating that county approvals and a development agreement between the county and Hokuli'a's developer amounted to assurances by the county that property rights of buyers were secure.

The letter says the lot owners will make a formal demand against the county they estimate to be around $200 million. Such a demand is necessary before the county can be sued. Baker said the formal demand should be made in the next few weeks, followed by a lawsuit if the county cannot provide relief for his clients.

Hawai'i County Managing Director Dixie Kaetsu said the county sympathizes with lot owners, but isn't liable for their fate.

"The county is confident that everything was done properly," she said. "We certainly understand how frustrating it is for the people who spent a million dollars or more to buy a lot to build a dream home, and they can't do anything with it. They really are innocent parties to this."

Developer 1250 Oceanside Partners broke ground on the 750-lot subdivision in 1999 after gaining county approvals for 1-acre home lots on agriculture-zoned land. Other parts of the project include a golf course, spa, tennis courts, beach house, a club and about 200 acres leased to farmers under an agriculture program managed by the homeowners association.

In 2000, a few residents with mainly environmental concerns filed a lawsuit to stop the project. Big Island Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra in 2002 ruled that land-use permits should have been obtained through a more comprehensive state Land Use Commission process, and he ordered construction halted in September 2003.

Oceanside Partners, a joint venture of Arizona developer Lyle Anderson and Japan Airlines, appealed Ibarra's decision to the state Supreme Court late last year after other attempts seeking relief failed.

About 90 lot buyers asked the state Supreme Court to review Ibarra's ruling, but that request was denied last month. Some buyers also have tried to cancel their purchases but can't.

Hawai'i County officials have arranged a meeting with Baker tentatively scheduled for early next month to explore options, which may include more vigorous pursuit of a bill in the Legislature seeking to reclassify marginal agricultural land, including the Hokuli'a property, as rural.

Kaetsu, the Hawai'i county director, was not particularly hopeful the bill — HB1418 sponsored by Rep. Bob Herkes D-5th (Ka'u, S. Kona) — would pass. The bill failed to make a recent deadline for advancing, though technically it could be revived.

"It really would be nice if there was something the Legislature could do," Kaetsu said. "I don't know if there is the will there. It is a very controversial issue."

Kaetsu said the county is also awaiting a ruling on the developer's appeal to the state Supreme Court, to which the county submitted a supporting brief.

"We are confident we will prevail in the courts," Kaetsu said. "Unfortunately it takes a long time."

A backlog of cases before the state high court has stretched into a wait of more than four years for some cases, and Baker said his clients already have waited too long for relief.

He said parts of Ibarra's ruling faulted the county, including the opinion that the county failed to enforce state law governing the way agricultural lands can be used. For that reason, Baker views a lawsuit as a relatively easy one on which to prevail.