MENTOR, Minn. — Residents in a small Polk County community are trying to snuff out a proposed business.

Paperwork has been filed for a cannabis grow operation near one of the region’s most popular lakes during the summer.

The proposed cannabis growing facility would be located along County 12 just outside the city limits of Mentor and about half mile from Maple Lake.

“Do we really need it right here at the lake?” said Cindy Tyler, who has owned the Oak Cove Resort along Maple Lake for the past 40 years.

Tyler has gathered more than 100 signatures on a petition against the project. Water usage and smell are two of the biggest issues.

“Stink like dead skunks. And since we had such a wonderful summer with having all the smoke coming from Canada and that’s over 100 miles away,” Tyler said.

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Cody Parr, who owns Legends and Murphy’s Pub in Moorhead, is the man behind the project. His family has owned the land for generations. He is proposing a micro-business cannabis growing facility. The plan does not include retail. The facility would bring roughly 20 jobs to the community of 100.

For the project to happen, the county must rezone the land from agricultural to commercial.

“What makes him so special that he is not going to be opening up a slippery slope and opening up the doors that anybody in the whole county is just going to start saying, ‘Well let’s rezone this little piece of property,’” Tyler said.

Tyler is afraid the new business will become an eyesore and drive down property values in this summer hot spot.

“If people are driving by and they see concertina wire around their chain link fence or it stinks when you drive by, they are not going to want to build around here or buy a piece of property around here,” Tyler said.

The Polk County Planning and Zoning Board will likely vote on the project on Friday, Oct. 24, but ultimately it’s up to the Polk County Commission to decide whether or not the project proceeds.

Parr said he did not want to comment until after Friday’s hearing.