SCOTTSDALE – As the city’s strip clubs fight for their livelihood, a group of residents is launching a grass-roots effort to restrict their activities.

Activists registered a new political action committee, Yes on 401, with the city this week. Organizers said their goal is to support the City Council in its effort to place new restrictions on Scottsdale’s two strip clubs.

Scottsdale voters will decide Sept. 12 whether to approve new rules for strip clubs that would outlaw lap dances, a significant source of income for the clubs and their dancers.

Owners of Scottsdale’s two clubs, Babe’s Cabaret and Skin Cabaret, have said the restrictions in Proposition 401 would drive them out of business.

The Yes on 401 panel considers the new rules essential to revitalizing south Scottsdale, where the clubs are.

“This isn’t just about the status quo of a couple businesses. This is about who we are and what our future is,” said Jamie Capobres, the campaign’s vice chairman. “It might sound naive, but it really is just about community well-being.”

The group is now planning its strategy for winning passage of 401. Organizers admit to getting a late start but noted the endorsement of several local elected officials, including state Sen. Carolyn Allen and state Rep. Colette Rosati, both Scottsdale Republicans, and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, also a Republican.

Meanwhile, the strip clubs have gone on the offensive in recent weeks, taking out full-page ads in local newspapers to press their point.

“Our cabarets aren’t hurting anyone, so let’s give them a chance to stay open the old-fashioned way, through the marketplace,” one ad said. “It shouldn’t be because of some political decisions made in secret that make no sense.”

The ad was paid for by the Scottsdale Small Business Alliance Political Committee, whose backers include Eric Borowsky, owner of the land under Skin Cabaret and father of club owner Todd Borowsky. The partnership that owns Babe’s, 2011 Scottsdale Entertainment Group LLC, also contributed funding.

The partnership includes adult-film star and Paradise Valley resident Jenna Jameson, whose partial purchase of the club last year triggered a controversy that culminated in the council adding restrictions to its sexually oriented business ordinance. The clubs then gathered the signatures necessary to refer the question to voters.

A publicity pamphlet containing arguments for and against the proposition will be mailed to voters Monday, City Clerk Carolyn Jagger said.