Lawsuit between Lollipop Guild and construction company, government and neighbors over billboard in 2021 is settled

Nearly four years after The Lollipop Guild, a single-person LLC run by Toledo resident Kyle Wheeler, began trying to build a progressive sign on his property in Chehalis, The Lollipop Guild has settled its lawsuit with local government, a construction company and neighboring property owners.

The initial lawsuit was filed in Lewis County Superior Court in June 2021 against construction company Marvin Construction, LLC, the City of Chehalis and Lewis County, with Wheeler alleging that local governments have favored Scott Marvin’s Marvin Construction, which Wheeler claimed had “repeatedly encroached” and “continually trespassed” on his single-acre property with “blatant disregard of jurisdictional setback requirements.”

Marvin Construction LLC, which was building the nearby Glacier Ridge subdivision, told The Chronicle at the time the business was “100% going by the books with the city.”

The City of Chehalis was dismissed from the lawsuit in June 2022. An amended complaint filed in September 2022 replaced Lewis County with the Lewis County Public Utility District (PUD) as a defendant in the case, and added neighboring property owners Eric Sonnenberg and William and Sharon Hess as defendants.

In that amended complaint, Wheeler alleged that Marvin Construction, LLC, the PUD and the neighboring property owners infringed upon and damaged Wheeler’s property.

A Lewis County Superior Court judge signed an order of dismissal with prejudice, meaning the lawsuit cannot be refiled in the same court of law, on Sept. 6, 2024.

The motion came after Lewis County PUD and The Lollipop Guild filed separate motions for a summary judgment, asking a judge to rule on the case without a trial.

A hearing for a judge to review those motions was scheduled for Oct. 4, 2024.

“The parties hereby stipulate that all claims … of any nature whatsoever by any party against another party in this case have been compromised,” the parties stated in the dismissal motion, which was signed by each party’s attorney.

“The parties further stipulate that this resolves and compromises doubtful and disputed claims, and that the parties’ settlement is not to be construed as an admission of liability on the part of any party,” the motion reads.

Part of the settlement included Wheeler selling the property to the Hess couple and Sonnenberg, according to Wheeler.

Due to the sale of the Chehalis property, Wheeler said Tuesday that he no longer has plans to put up a sign in the area.