The Hawkins Plaza entertainment district is an area plagued with controversy and a nightclub owner is fanning the flames.

Las Vegas businessman David Cooper served El Paso, the city council, and four El Paso residents with a lawsuit on behalf of his company, Monaco Entertainment Group, LLC.

The lawsuit comes after Cooper was unable to negotiate and put at ease the minds of people who live near Hawkins Plaza, where Cooper is trying to open a salsa bar called the Miami Social Club. The club would replace the empty suite where Wet Ultra Lounge used to reside, a bar formerly owned by Cooper's business partner Matt Meagher.

In October, neighbors and city officials met with Cooper to try and prevent the entreprenuer from opening in the corner building. Cooper tried to reassure the opposition that he was in the process of installing a 24-hour surveillance system accessible from Cooper's cell phone. City Rep. Emma Acosta, who is responsible for district that includes Hawkins Plaza vowed to stand behind the resident's decision.

In November, the city council voted to submit a protest to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission hoping to prevent Cooper from attaining a liquor license.

Tuesday's 11-page lawsuit cites a violation of state constitutional rights that ensure equal business rights and defamation of both Cooper and Monaco Entertainment. Cooper said when he owned and operated the Dallas Nights Country Saloon in 2009-2010, the cantina was raided five times disrupting business. Only one of the raids was conducted by the TABC, the rest were from El Paso City Police Officers. Cooper blames the raids for the eventual closure of the Dallas Nights Country Saloon. The defamation claims stem from the accusations by neighbors that Cooper and Monaco sell alcohol to minors and creates dangerous environments around the clubs.

"I've never had a drunk driving fatality or an arrest coming from my place," Cooper said. "No one has had a DWI, no one's been shot, stabbed, killed, maimed, and I've never had weapons involved. Regardless of how many security cameras I put up and how much money I spend to resolve whatever concerns there are, that's not what the neighbors want. They want the problem."

Cooper also said it was only a small handful of 10 neighbors opposing the business and now the whole of district three.

Acosta, the second defendant listed in the lawsuit, said she was handed the document right before Tuesday's city council meeting started, which didn't give her very much time to look it over.

"I'm still not exactly sure what the problems are," Acosta said. "You're talking about the livelihood of people that live in the area and people that have invested large amounts of money to buy their homes in the area."

Four of the El Paso residents named in the lawsuit, Irene Borunda, Mark Benitez, John Billingslea, and Anna Nazario, live near Hawkins Plaza.

"The people of Cielo Vista are trying to protect their neighborhood," Benitez said. "All you have to do is look at the record of Hawkins Plaza to see what's caused us concern. We've been very forth right, we've been very honest. We're engaged because we are interested in preserving the integrity of our community."

The plaza was plagued by several incidents including the death of a Fort Bliss soldier in the parking lot in February. Spc. Alex Gabriel Jaime, 23, was allegedly shot and killed during a fight with Spc. Saleel Zareef Qaasim, 25.  The death did prompt city council to revoke the business lease of nearby bar The Three Legged Monkey.