Columbia ordered to pay former car wash nearly $6M. Will it mean city cuts?
A request from the city of Columbia asking a judge to reconsider a verdict demanding it pay nearly $6 million to an area car wash owner has been denied.
The city plans to appeal the decision and argues that paying out the multi-million dollar judgement would affect the city’s budget and its ability to provide city services.
In July, Judge Robert Hood ruled that the city must pay the owner of Five Points’ Constan Car Wash $4.2 million, plus interest, because the city demolished a section of wall that the car wash owner claimed was there to prevent severe flooding. Factoring in daily interest, the city now owes nearly $6 million.
After the July ruling, the city asked the judge to reconsider, writing in a court filing that “the $4.2 million judgment here represents a massive expenditure of taxpayer funds, with a direct impact on the City’s budget and its ability to provide essential public services.”
The city is self-insured and is responsible for paying the verdict itself, but it did not budget for the more than $5 million ruling. A spokesperson added, “Even if we had insurance, this type of action would not be covered.”
The payout would come from the city’s stormwater system fund, meaning potential delays and reprioritization of infrastructure projects the city has been working toward in recent years, according to the city’s statement.
“We plan to appeal this judgement as this is yet another egregious example of the critical need for judicial reform in our state,” said Mayor Daniel Rickenmann in a statement shared with The State.
Attorney Dick Harpootlian, who is representing Constan owner O. Stanley “Chip” Smith in the case, took issue with Rickenmann’s statement about judicial reform, saying that multiple judges have issued orders in the case pointing to legal errors by the city.
“This isn’t about judicial reform,” Harpootlian said. “If they want to reform anything they might want to reform their legal department.”
Smith, owner of the car wash, said in court documents that he was forced to close the 75-year-old business after the city’s 2021 demolition of a wall built by Smith to stop the property from flooding during every heavy storm. The car wash closed in 2022.
Smith said the city’s actions caused $4.27 million in damage to him and the business he inherited from his father.
The city argued that the business operated for years without the wall, and that after the wall was demolished, the car wash stayed in business for a year.
A judge agreed with Smith and awarded him the multi-million dollar judgement. Smith’s attorneys are also asking the city to pay more than $500,000 in legal costs.
After the July ruling, the city filed a motion asking the judge to lower the award to just over $7,000, which would cover the cost of the removed wall.
Now that a judge has denied the city’s request, the city has 30 days to file an appeal, but the verdict amount will continue accruing interest during that time.
Constan was a beloved fixture in Columbia. Its founders — married couple O. Stanley Smith Jr and his wife, Connie (the “Con” and “Stan” in Constan) — are credited with helping stoke excitement for the Riverbanks Zoo. Smith famously bought a tiger cub named Happy and housed him at the car wash — a decade before the Riverbanks Zoo opened. Happy died at the zoo a few years after it opened.
This story was originally published October 7, 2025 at 10:55 AM.
