An Evans business previously warned about hiring unlicensed and unsupervised massage therapists now faces the loss of both its business and massage operator licenses.
The Columbia County Planning Commission voted 4-1 at a recent meeting to recommend pulling the licenses for Oriental Massage, 4158 Washington Rd., after an anonymous tipster notified county authorities in August about supposed rule violations.
Raising the roof: New Augusta arena moves closer to opening after topping-out event
Code enforcement officers conducting a compliance check at Oriental on Aug. 6 found Yehui Ni performing a massage, but he couldn't produce proper licensing, according to county staff's report on their findings.
Owner Yurui Huang wasn't at the business when inspectors dropped by, but arrived later after one of three women onsite contacted her, the report stated.
The county responded to a similar tip in February 2025, when an inspector found that two of the three women he could identify working at Oriental also couldn't produce licenses.
Huang, who was not at the business when the 2025 inspector arrived either, renewed her massage license and was issued a business license three weeks after the county posted a stop-work order at Oriental, according to the county.
No further action was taken, but Huang was warned verbally that future violations would trigger citations.
Huang told planning commissioners that the customer mentioned in the August visit was not disrobed and was getting just a foot massage, which she said falls within state law's exceptions for requiring a massage license.
Customers also appeared before commissioners to attest to the business owner's integrity. Repair contractor Adam Hutto said Huang has "a heart of gold" and "has literally become like family to me" through his regular therapy sessions.
Huang's husband, Lee Clyde, said that an Aug. 19 arraignment scheduled for Huang was postponed until October because the court couldn't immediately locate a Mandarin Chinese interpreter to help question one of the implicated therapists. According to Clyde, that means commissioners would be rendering a decision without taking due process into account – suggesting that the county would determine Huang's guilt before a court could find her not guilty.
Determining the county actions and the court actions as separate circumstances, planning commissioners still recommended taking the licenses.
The licensing decision will now go before the full Columbia County Board of Commissioners at an upcoming meeting.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Second warning may cost this Evans business its licenses