A group of downtown Scottsdale merchants and homeowners associations are hoping Sheriff Joe Arpaio will help them rid the area of trash, noise and rude behavior from patrons of the entertainment district.

A number of merchants and homeowners gathered this week at Basic Training, in the Camelback & Miller Plaza shopping center, to voice their grievances and discuss strategy for protecting private property owners from surrounding clubs.

"We can do this, we can draw a line in the sand and save our community," said Bill Crawford, who owns Basic Training and is spearheading the effort. "We are not going to degrade our community and our businesses."

The group of merchants and homeowners associations plans to form a corporation with the Arizona Corporation Commission with the following goals:

-�To ensure law enforcement and code enforcement in the entertainment district.

-�To protect parking on private property.

-�To slow down the process of the Scottsdale City Council approving permits for more bars and clubs to open in the entertainment district.

"We're dealing with problems at the present time that totally overwhelm our community, and we're only about halfway into the planned bars that they want to bring in down here," Crawford said. "We have to be able to put conditions into the opening of more bars, and nothing else until the current problems are addressed so that there is compatibility."

The merchants did say there has been some improvement in the past two weeks since they have been dealing with the city as a group.

Crawford invited Arpaio to speak at the group's next meeting, set for June 9 at Basic Training. The sheriff has accepted the invitation and said he is looking forward to hearing what the merchants and homeowners have to say.

"I did talk to Mayor Jim Lane and I do have to give credit to the mayor and the Scottsdale Police Department . . . at least they're taking an interest in this," Arpaio said. "I'll decide in that meeting what action I will take. I do see cooperation in Scottsdale city government. And one of the good things about working together is having mutual respect and trying to resolve matters one way or the other."

If the merchants and homeowners have proof that the Scottsdale Police Department isn't doing its job, "that's something I'll listen to," he said.

At this week's meeting, numerous residents talked about how their businesses have been affected by patrons of nearby clubs. Liz Dawn, co-owner of Mishka Productions at Stetson Drive and Civic Center Plaza, said coming to her office on Monday morning can be a nightmare.

"There's trash all over our courtyard, people have defecated, urinated and thrown up," she said. "It's just a disaster zone. We pay for our parking spaces and sometimes we can't even get into our own parking spaces."

Dave Murray, general manager of the Hyatt Summerfield Suites at Drinkwater Boulevard and Indian School Road, said guests regularly complain about the loud noise coming from the bars that surround the hotel.

"We have refunds and we've seen in our guest satisfaction surveys that people will not return because of the noise in the Old Town area, and that's scary for us," he said.

Julie Hildebrand, owner of Textures salon in the Camelback & Miller Plaza, said patrons of nearby bars have regularly blocked off access to parking behind the center reserved for tenants.

"And we have a picnic table in the back, and when I come in on a Friday or Saturday morning, the people from over there who have been drinking have been using the table, so there's orange peels, banana peels and empty bottles," she said. "And there's three bushes over there and they use that to use the facilities. We don't go over there and pee on their area or their business, so have the common courtesy to do the same thing with us, with the surrounding businesspeople."

Crawford said he has a "tremendous investment" downtown, both as a business owner and a homeowner, and he and others' investments need to be protected.