NEW CUMBERLAND — A Hancock County strip club that was the scene of an apparent shooting incident last year is seeking to reopen, court records said.

Tiffany’s Dolls Cabaret, 7754 Ohio River Blvd., has filed paperwork in Hancock County Circuit Court asking for a writ that would allow it to reopen. At issue is whether the club’s adult entertainment license with the county still is valid.

Lawyers for club owner Joseph Strazzanti, president of FST Properties LLC, argue the adult entertainment site was never abandoned, as the county contends, following a shooting incident in the early morning hours of Sept. 18, 2015.

The club relinquished its state liquor license in the wake of the shooting but never intended to close permanently, attorneys Joseph Ludovici and Ian Masters said. Instead, the club followed a 10-day “cooling off” period, which the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration extended for another 10 days.

Hancock County sheriff’s deputies recovered multiple shell casings from the parking lot and the front door area. It is unclear whether the investigation ever resulted in any arrests.

For months, the building on state Route 2 looked like it was vacant as the grass grew tall and no traffic could be seen coming or going. Then, in the spring, Weirton attorney Michael Nogay made inquiries to county attorney Michael Lucas III about the club reopening, according to court documents.

Nogay noted that FST’s ownership of the club predates the county’s Adults-Only Establishment Location Ordinance, which was adopted by county commissioners in 2004 and amended in 2007. What’s more, he said the club should not be considered abandoned under the abandonment provision in the adult ordinance.

A one-year standard would have extended to approximately Sept. 18. A sign in front of Tiffany’s announces an opening date of Sept. 15 and the presence of “15 beautiful girls.”

County officials said they are not sure whether the club has reopened and, if so, whether it is offering adult entertainment.

“Someone almost certainly will investigate it at some point,” Lucas said.

“To my knowledge, they’ve never come to the county to reapply for (an adult entertainment) license,” Commissioner Jeff Davis said. “As of Friday, they had not submitted any paperwork.”

Phone calls to the Tiffany’s club and the corporate office were not answered.

The club is asking the court to declare the county’s adult ordinance “null and void” and to issue an order that will allow Tiffany’s to operate in accordance with its “prior established business model and activities — albeit without serving alcohol as the alcohol permit has been temporarily and voluntarily relinquished.”

Tiffany’s also could operate as a “bikini bar” in which the females did not work in a nude or seminude state, court documents said. The county’s 2007 ordinance prohibits nude or seminude establishments from being within 2,000 feet of each other, while excluding females who are clad in bikinis.

Tiffany’s is adjacent to Fantasy’s Gentlemen’s Club. Strazzanti, of North Olmsted, Ohio, also operates a Tiffany’s Dolls Caberet in North Lima.