After noise complaints, judge orders Waymo to stop overnight charging in Santa Monica - Ars Technica
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A local judge has ruled that Waymo can no longer use its side-by-side charging facilities overnight in Santa Monica, California, as these may pose a “public nuisance.”
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Bradley S. Phillips granted this week the City of Santa Monica’s motion for a preliminary injunction in the city’s ongoing public nuisance lawsuit against the autonomous vehicle giant.
City officials and neighbors assert that the constant stream of vehicles at the charging stations create light and sound pollution and cause undue traffic congestion on the streets and nearby alleys, creating a collective bother and disruption.
“The constant ‘beep beep beep’ sound as the autonomous vehicles back out of their spaces (in their own lots) is an incessant disturbance that hinders both our tranquillity during the day and our peace during the night,” wrote Christopher Potter, a man who says he lives right next to the lots.
Under the new order, Waymo is forbidden from operating the charging lots on Broadway at 12th and Euclid Streets between 11 pm and 6 am. The Broadway charging stations sit directly across the street from a private school. Apartment buildings and other residences are also nearby, and some residents have complained consistently for over a year.
With the order in place, neighbors already notice a difference.
“I took a walk around last night, and gosh, it’s amazing,” Dylan Moore told Ars. Moore lives down the block from these Waymo lots and previously created the WaymoProblems.org website. “You can hear the crickets, you can hear your thoughts, it’s not a fleet of locusts descending on the neighborhood, it’s incredible.”
Another neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal and described himself as a “night owl,” said that he is thrilled that Waymo has abided by the court order.
“At 2 am when the bars let out, that’s when [they had been] full bore,” he said. “My apartment faces Broadway. The sound of the Waymos, yes, but the acceleration and deceleration sound that EVs have, makes it sounds like you have Tron outside your window. It [was] one after another!”
Santa Monica leadership also trumpeted the success.
“Our residents’ ability to sleep peacefully in their own homes is not negotiable,” Mayor Caroline Torosis said in a statement. “This ruling affirms what our neighbors have been telling us for more than a year, and it delivers relief while the case moves forward.”
Waymo did not immediately respond to questions from Ars Technica.
Waymo began using these facilities in January 2025. After numerous complaints and an online petition, the City of Santa Monica ordered the company to halt overnight operations. It eventually sued Waymo over the issue in November 2025 in a case that is still ongoing. (Waymo has also counter-sued.)
The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for October 2026.
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