HILO, Hawai'i — Critics of a plan to develop a hotel and up to 1,500 homes at Punalu'u in Ka'u on the Big Island have delivered petitions to the county Planning Department with more than 3,000 signatures of people who oppose the project.

The petitions delivered by the group Ka'u Preservation on Friday ask the county, state and federal governments to work with Ka'u residents to acquire the 434 acres proposed for development.

Organizers want the government to buy the land "so that Punalu'u will be preserved forever as a 'Living Classroom,' and as a protected resource for all families, fishermen and cultural practitioners in Hawai'i and the millions of visitors to Punalu'u from around the world."

Nearly one-third of the signatures on the petitions opposing the $850 million Sea Mountain Development are from residents of Ka'u, organizers said.

Critics of the project said 832 Ka'u residents who signed amount to nearly one-sixth of the total Ka'u population. "The signatures from Ka'u represent a large portion of the population that rely on Punalu'u as an important gathering place, fishing grounds and cultural resource," organizers said.

The petitions are being presented as comments on the draft environmental impact statement for the project.

"This represents a turning point in our efforts to save Punalu'u," said Earl Louis, vice president of Ka'u Preservation. "Now the mayor and the Planning Department will hear the many voices of the thousands of people in Ka'u and in Hawai'i that love Punalu'u and want these sacred lands protected."

Supporters of the project point out that the existing golf clubhouse, restaurant and retail shops at Punalu'u closed long ago, and argue that the aging water and sewer systems that serve the area have been neglected for so long that they may fail someday soon.

Backers of the project have been negotiating with Sea Mountain for a community benefit package they hope will be worth $2 million.

Supporters also want jobs closer to home so that Ka'u residents won't have to drive for hours to work in the North Kona and South Kohala hotels. The project is expected to create more than 500 permanent jobs when it is completed in 2015.

Pele Hanoa, president of Ka'u Preservation, said the signatures on the petitions opposing the project "speak for themselves."

"It is clear that a majority of people in Ka'u and Hawai'i want to see Punalu'u protected as a living classroom, and are against the Sea Mountain Development," she said in a written statement.

"We will continue our petition drive, and these numbers will continue to grow and continue to demonstrate that residents in Ka'u — including local educators, business owners and long-time residents who were born and raised in Ka'u do not want Punalu'u turned into a housing development for the wealthy, and believe there are better ways to create better jobs for Ka'u residents," Hanoa said.