A Providence gay club wants police off the property. Police say that puts the city at risk.

PROVIDENCE – The police say they have responded at least 40 times in the last year to the area near the The Mega-Plex, an LGBTQ+ club on Allens Avenue for incidents ranging from alleged assaults, to drug possession, to heavily tinted car windows and people sitting in their cars too long.

The city tallied some 40 incident reports, including arrests for possession of methamphetamine, ketamine and cocaine, in opposing the club’s motion for a court order barring the police from the property.

The city argues such an order would "open the city of Providence and its citizens up to unbounded criminal activity.”

“It appears that such an order directing police to, in fact, not police a certain area would be unprecedented. It would put the citizens of the city, as well as patrons that frequent the city, at risk," Senior Assistant City Solicitor Steven B. Nelson wrote.

The city argues the area “is indeed a high crime area that warrants police presence.” The Mega-Plex, Wonderland strip club, the Lingerie Store, Silhouettes Gentleman’s Club and the Bull Pen are all located on a two-block strip bordered by Allens Avenue, O’Connell Street, Poe Street and Swan Street, with Bay Street cutting through the center.

The Mega-Plex wants police off the property

The Mega-Plex last week filed a motion seeking a temporary restraining order blocking the Providence police from “trespassing, harassment and over-policing” patrons on its 527 Allens Ave. property based on their sexual orientation. It alleges that the police are unlawfully discriminating against the patrons by conducting inordinate stops and searches.

The Mega-Plex is a gay sauna, and offers additional sexual health and wellness clinics and counseling on site.

Spur Track Properties LLC, the property owner; Narragansett Promotions Inc; and Steven Medeiros, manager and operator of The Mega-Plex  argued the police presence is causing patrons to avoid the club and is hurting business, all in violation of customers’ civil rights.

In addition, they assert that the police routinely enter onto Bay Street, though the road was abandoned by the city in 1997 and sold for $10,000 to H. Charles Tapalian, president of The Pink Building Inc., at 245 Allens Ave.

They allege that the “meritless enforcement activity” violates their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

More: The Mega-Plex wants to bar Providence police from their property. Here's why.

`Unfettered access to engage in criminal activity'

But the city says the club has failed to prove that the patrons were selectively targeted as compared to any other establishment in Providence.

"Prohibiting the PPD from entering the subject parking lot and the Bay Street area would result in unfettered access to engage in criminal activity within the parking lot and surrounding area of this business,” Nelson wrote.

In addition, the city asserts there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a commercial parking lot that is open to the public.

“The activity of the PPD patrolling near and around plaintiffs’ business is clearly a content-neutral activity and completely unrelated to the content of any speech … Therefore, plaintiffs cannot establish that the actions of the PPD violate the First Amendment,” the city said.

U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy is scheduled to hear arguments in the case May 6.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Police say they responded to 40+ calls at The Mega-Plex in last year