MARTINSBURG, W.Va. – The Berkeley County Council has been hearing from citizens concerned over an effort to reopen two exotic-dance clubs.
Both Vixens Gentlemen’s Club in Bunker Hill, W.Va. and Taboo Gentlemen’s Club in Martinsburg, W.Va., closed last year, but county attorney Norwood Bentley says they would need be shut down for a full year before a presumption of abandonment would prevent the clubs from reopening under a 2004 exotic-entertainment ordinance.
A Virginia businessman is threatening to sue if the Berkeley County Planning Commission does not send a form to the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration telling the ABC commissioner that existing county restrictions do not prohibit the clubs from opening.
Bentley said he is recommending that the council allow that to happen.
“The [Berkeley County] Council could override me, if it wanted to, but they would then be in the position of inviting a lawsuit which I believe they would lose,” Bentley said.
Amending the existing ordinance or creating a new one will also not change the situation.
“Nothing that we do to amend the ordinance would affect these clubs,” He said. “All legislation is prospective.”
Bentley added that the final decision will come from the state ABC Commissioner, not the county.
“All we’re doing is saying there are no county restrictions that apply to this.”
Bentley said the county may include a letter stating requesting that the commissioner travel to Berkeley County to hold a public hearing before making a decision.
He said he believes some members of the public have already reached out and made such a request.