Scottsdale- Neighbors of a south Scottsdale strip club are greeting news of its takeover by a world-renowned porn magnate with naked contempt.

“We are totally against it,” said Mary Sampietro, who lives in the neighborhood surrounding Babe’s Cabaret, 2011 N. Scottsdale Road.

The club confirmed Friday that it has been purchased by a partnership that includes Jenna Jameson, a Paradise Valley adult-film star and entrepreneur who runs a burgeoning porn empire from an office in Scottsdale.advertisement

That triggered a flurry of phone calls and e-mails during the weekend between the area’s well-organized neighborhood activists, who immediately began discussing protests.

Sampietro said the club’s purchase was a hot topic of discussion Sunday at nearby Scottsdale Baptist Church, where parishioners were “outraged” by plans to remodel the club and broadcast live performances on the Internet.

“The church reaction was, they were just stunned,” Sampietro said.

One activist, Mike Merrill, said Jameson should prepare for “a fight the likes (of which) she will probably never see again.”

Councilman Bob Littlefield asked Scottsdale’s staff to research legal options for fighting changes to Babe’s.

“On the bright side, if this change in ownership or plans for ‘renovation’ require any city approvals, this gives us an opportunity to legally shut this place down and get rid of it altogether,” Littlefield wrote in an e-mail to neighbors. “I will certainly vote to do so.”

Babe’s declined to comment on changes to the club, saying it would wait until renovations are finished in late September or early October.

The club has yet to apply for any building permits.

Meanwhile, neighbor Lisa Haskell said neighbors have adopted a simple strategy for dealing with the club.

“Maybe when she finds out what a bunch of rabid nutcases she has living in the area, she’ll just go away,” Haskell said.