N. Main Murphy gas station pitch promised title loan removal. It may be rebuilt
When high-profile local developers pitched a new Murphy USA gas station at a crucial North Main Street intersection, they suggested that the project was better than a previously-rejected gas station plan because an existing Auto Money Title Loans building on the corner would be removed.
But that’s not quite the case. The title loan office currently at 3320 North Main St. is expected to be rebuilt on the property. That is, if Columbia City Council approves a change to city zoning rules that would allow it.
The gas station plans have become a flashpoint in a debate over the future of North Main Street and the North Columbia gateway at Sunset Drive. Nearby neighborhood associations have sued the city, asking a judge to reverse a February Board of Zoning Appeals decision allowing the gas station development.
Residents opposed to the Murphy plans hope that if city council votes against changing the zoning rules, disallowing the title loan office’s rebuild, it could throw a wrench in the overall redevelopment of the site.
“That’s a potential point of leverage… if the council can be influenced not to allow that,” said Bob Petrulis, president of the Hyatt Park/Keenan Terrace neighborhood association, at a community meeting in early March.
What does the title loan have to do with the gas station?
Jason Stern with Stern Development went before Columbia’s Board of Zoning Appeals in February to pitch redeveloping a corner of Sunset Drive and North Main Street into a new 16-pump Murphy gas station. He framed the deal as a trade-off: keep the “unsightly” title loan that currently sits on the site, or get rid of the title loan and get something new in exchange.
He contrasted the Murphy project against a similar plan for a Circle K gas station there that the zoning board rejected in 2023.
“Circle K was planning to develop around this title loan building that’s currently on the corner … and that is the opposite of what we’re trying to do,” Stern told the board. “We are taking this building out. We’re going to be redeveloping a brand new Murphy on the hard corner.”
“We think that that’s a major upgrade to … what they presented in 2023,” he said.
At no point during the public zoning board meeting did Stern explain that the title loan would be rebuilt.
But soon after that February meeting, residents started to hear rumors that the business wasn’t going away after all.
City planning officials confirmed to The State in early March that indeed, there were already plans in the works to see the title loan office rebuilt on the property, though it’s unclear exactly where.
But in order for the business to be rebuilt as planned, Columbia City Council must first change city law because of existing restrictions on where and how large payday and title loan lenders can be in the city.
This week, Columbia’s Planning Commission will consider the change, which was applied for by Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann.
In a statement shared with The State, Rickenmann said, “The City is facilitating the zoning change to allow for greater flexibility to collaborate with the landowner for future growth.”
Rickenmann declined an interview with The State Tuesday.
Two city council members, at-large representatives Tyler Bailey and Sam Johnson, said they are not sponsors of the amendment and had no knowledge of who had asked for the change.
Only city staff or city council can sponsor amendments to the city’s unified development ordinance – the set of codes that regulate development, including through zoning rules – a city spokesperson said.
The change in question would allow “nonconforming” payday and title loan establishments “to be reestablished in a newly constructed building on the same parcel, as long as the reestablishment can meet certain conditions.”
The would-be Murphy gas station property is currently owned by the family that operates the title loan office at the site, Jason Stern has previously said. The State has not been able to reach a representative for the property owner.
Stern Development is a high-profile development firm in Columbia that is representing Murphy USA in its bid to build the new convenience store and gas station on North Main Street. The firm is headed by Bill Stern, who has given thousands of dollars to Rickenmann’s past campaigns for public office, and others on city council. Jason Stern, who represented the case before the zoning board in February, is Bill Stern’s son.
Bill Stern donated at least $3,000 to Rickenmann’s most recent 2025 campaign to keep his seat as Columbia’s mayor, under his own name and through two companies for whom Stern is the registered agent, according to state ethics filings.
Stern also donated $1,000 to Tina Herbert in 2025, who represents Columbia’s District 1, where the Murphy gas station would be located.
Herbert did not respond to phone calls or a text message asking for her thoughts on the gas station project.
Stern also gave $2,000 to Peter Brown’s most recent campaigns to keep his District 4 council seat.
When asked if Stern Development specifically asked for the zoning amendment, the mayor, through a spokesperson, said no.
Bill and Jason Stern have not responded to multiple attempts by The State to reach them, via email and phone calls to their firm’s office.
The future of a major intersection
The issue over what becomes of the title loan office currently at Sunset Drive and North Main Street is just one component of an ongoing battle for the fate of the pivotal North Columbia intersection.
The corner is important, residents and city leaders agree.
It sits just above Earlewood Park to the south, it’s about a half mile to Prisma’s Richland Hospital to the east. The intersection is a gateway to the rest of North Columbia, and to the west is U.S. Highway 176, connecting neighborhoods across the river toward St. Andrews.
In 2025, an average of more than 30,000 vehicles travelled the intersection each day, according to the latest traffic counts from the South Carolina Department of Transportation.
While not one of Columbia’s busiest intersections, it is among the busiest in the North Main area. For decades, the corner has been seen as having potential for more. Millions in public dollars have gone toward making the North Main corridor look and feel more appealing to residents and small businesses.
A pain point for many residents who have spoken against the gas station has been a long-standing city plan passed in 2005 that envisions something walkable and vibrant for the corner. Residents have also said there are already too many gas stations and convenience stores in the area.
“We are poised to make this gateway intersection something special, allowing a major convenience store and gas station would be a step backward,” said Basil Garzia, a longtime Hyatt Park/Keenan Terrace resident, at that February zoning board meeting.
Jason Stern, in advocating for the project in February, said the Murphy gas station would elevate other nearby stores. He also said the gas station project would be the only economically feasible development at the site and that it would spur further development in the area.
When reached by The State, both of Columbia’s at-large council members, who represent the entire city rather than a specific geographic area, said they had not yet made a final decision on how they would vote on the zoning rules when the issue comes before the council.
But both council members said they are aware of residents’ concerns and expect to factor that input into their decision-making.
“I’ve always been a big proponent that development should happen with communities, not to communities,” said at-large council member Bailey. “This community has been pretty vocal about what they don’t want to see happen there.”
He said as a starting rule, it’s important that development fits the goals and character of an area.
But he added that he did not want to weigh in until the item comes before city council because he doesn’t want to influence the ongoing legal case filed by neighbors against the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals.
Johnson, a fellow at-large council member, echoed Bailey’s statement.
“I think it would be doing everyone a disservice to make up my mind today,” Johnson said, but added that he has “a good sense” of where he stands on the title loan issue. Though he said he does not want to share his position until the question hits a city council agenda.
Johnson acknowledged residents’ concerns, saying it’s important for the city to assess the overall vision for the city when making decisions about development.
“Certainly, the neighborhood’s concerns are a critical element in that rubric,” Johnson said. “For example, if we develop on this particular corner, with this particular development, what are some of the other dominoes that could fall?”
Columbia’s Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the zoning amendment at a meeting Thursday. The board can recommend that city council either approve or deny the rule change. The item could be before Columbia City Council by May.
City Council isn’t obligated to honor the Planning Commission’s recommendations, however. Like this past fall, when the city council passed a slate of new restrictions on short-term rentals like Airbnbs, despite the planning board recommending otherwise.
Meanwhile, the city has yet to respond to a lawsuit filed March 30 by neighborhood associations and residents against the city, asking a judge to reverse the zoning board’s decision allowing the gas station.
The Murphy plans also must still be approved by the city’s Design/Development Review Commission, which deferred a vote on the gas station’s design last month.
This story was originally published April 9, 2026 at 7:00 AM.
