CARROLL TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Naked dancing women are now bumping and grinding inside the old Orchard Inn.

The Ohio 2 eatery re-opened last week as Nauti Kat, an adult entertainment “gentlemen’s club.” Nude females hit the stage at 9 p.m. on a nightly basis, dancing until 2 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 4 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Restaurant operations are continuing from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m., offering half-pound hamburgers, biscuits and gravy, pancakes and other menu items.

The new Carroll Township cabaret operates on a bring-your-own-booze basis — patrons pay to store alcohol in the club’s coolers.

Nauti Kat is managed by Roger Loose, who also manages Club Rog on U.S. 20 between Fremont and Clyde. Loose opened Club Rog in January 2000. He said Nauti Kat will be operated in similar fashion, and his cabarets are legitimate businesses.

“We have hardly any problems down there whatsoever,” Loose said. “The problems we have usually don’t have anything to do with the club — they’re like, vandalism in the parking lot or usually something that’s stupid.”

Ottawa County’s only other legal adult entertainment club is Fireplace Lounge in Port Clinton, Ottawa Regional Planning Commission Director Walt Wehenkel said.

Nauti Kat’s owner, R&E Entertainment Inc. of Catawba Island, signed a two-year lease agreement in early June with the owner of Orchard Inn, Paulette Croll Hendricks, according to records at the Ottawa County Recorder’s Office. The company has an option to purchase the 6.4-acre property.

Orchard Inn was available for sale on the real estate market at various times since the late 1990s. Loose said he began inquiring about acquiring the property more than a year ago. He said Hendricks shut down the restaurant a couple weeks before the transaction was completed.

Loose estimated Nauti Kat will eventually employ 15 to 20 workers, including dancers, cooks, bartenders and waitresses. This winter, he plans to begin booking porn stars and other high-profile adult entertainers to headline appearances at the club.

Crews installed new carpeting, ceramic tile, pine paneling and drop ceilings inside the Orchard Inn to prepare for the cabaret opening.

Loose said the Ohio 2 location was attractive because of its proximity to summertime crowds — and because it is not zoned. Because Carroll Township has no zoning rules, Wehenkel said, there are no township regulations that would have prevented Nauti Kat from opening.

“Carroll Township had zoning on the ballot in November of last year, and one of the things we said was that zoning could help regulate where an establishment of this type could or could not be located,” Wehenkel said. “But the people still voted against zoning.”

In all, 57 percent of township residents voted “no” to proposed zoning regulations last fall