Autonomous vehicle company Waymo LLC filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the City of Santa Monica, seeking to block municipal efforts to shut down overnight operations at two Broadway electric vehicle charging facilities.
The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, requests declaratory and injunctive relief after the city demanded in November that Waymo cease all operations between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. at charging lots located at 1222 and 1310 Broadway. The city threatened litigation if the company failed to comply, citing noise, light and traffic complaints from neighboring residents.
Waymo operates the facilities under permits issued by Santa Monica in October 2023 that explicitly authorized 24-hour charging operations for an autonomous vehicle fleet, according to the complaint. The company argues its operations comply with state law protecting electric vehicle charging infrastructure and that the city's demands contradict its own permit approvals.
"The current pace of issuing permits locally is not meeting the magnitude of the challenge we face," the lawsuit states, noting that California law limits local interference with EV charging infrastructure absent "specific, adverse health or safety impact."
According to court documents, Waymo began using the Broadway facilities in November 2024 after Voltera Power LLC obtained permits from the city to operate an "automated EV charging facility serving ride hail company's private fleet of autonomous vehicles." The permits explicitly stated the facilities would operate 24 hours and include "on-the-spot cleaning or light maintenance of vehicle consumables."
Waymo provided over 50,000 rides that began or ended in Santa Monica during November 2025 alone, and overnight charging operations are essential to maintaining fleet readiness across its entire Los Angeles service area, according to the lawsuit.
The dispute escalated after residents near the facilities began complaining about noise, flashing vehicle lights and traffic congestion, particularly late at night. The city received more than 40 complaints through its 3-1-1 system from at least 15 individuals since early 2025, according to the lawsuit.
Neighboring residents reported excessive noise disturbances from dozens of Waymo vehicles traveling through the 12th Court alley between Colorado Avenue and Broadway each hour. Residents described hearing whirring or humming sounds from vehicles, clunking noises from cars driving over manhole covers, and reverse beeping audible from inside their homes.
"Neighbors report being woken up or being unable to sleep due to 12, 24, 40, or even 85 consecutive beeps from Waymo cars at all hours of the night," the city stated in its demand letter, noting complaints continued even after Waymo changed reverse beeping settings during the summer.
Residents also described ticking, clicking and swooshing sounds from Waymo vehicles charging at both facilities, sometimes as many as 58 cars per site. Multiple neighbors reported employees talking loudly, especially at night.
Light pollution from constant flashing headlights and taillights transformed the neighborhood into a "mini-Las Vegas," according to resident complaints. City staff observed blinking lights reflecting off nearby residential buildings.
Traffic congestion also created safety concerns. On Nov. 2, residents were awakened late at night by dozens of Waymo cars lining up the full length of the 12th Court alley and into the 1222 Broadway facility. The city noted it took approximately 20 minutes for attendants to clear the queue, potentially blocking emergency vehicle access.
The City Council voted 6-0 on Nov. 18 to demand that Waymo, Voltera and property owner SMF Property Holdings LLC immediately cease overnight operations, threatening litigation to abate what it called a "public nuisance."
In a Nov. 19 letter, Chief Deputy City Attorney Romy Ganschow ordered the companies to cease all overnight operations and gave them until Nov. 26 to confirm compliance. The city determined the operations violated multiple municipal code sections and state civil code provisions defining public nuisances.
"No property or business owner is entitled to operate their business as a public nuisance," the city stated, asserting that overnight operations cause "excessive noise disturbances and light intrusions" that substantially interfere with neighbors' property enjoyment.
In response, Waymo implemented numerous mitigation measures. The company reduced reverse beeping noise by more than 90 percent through software updates developed in consultation with federal regulators, installed landscaping and barriers to block light and sound, prohibited vehicle vacuuming between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., and modified traffic flow to reduce congestion.
When negotiations failed, the city issued a Dec. 10 letter with ten specific demands, including prohibiting vehicles from queuing in nearby alleys, limiting facility access to one vehicle at a time, turning off all external lights during charging, and establishing a half-mile overnight circulation restriction around the facilities.
Waymo argues the city never formally cited it for any violations and never produced evidence that operations exceeded applicable noise standards. The company notes that as recently as September, the city confirmed that "charging of vehicles can still occur during these hours" and that "complaints from residents regarding noise have subsided."
The company further deployed a major software update on Dec. 15 designed to disable base vehicle lights during charging and significantly reduce vehicle queuing. Waymo claims the update should reduce extended waiting incidents by more than 50 percent.
Waymo maintains that approximately 15 percent of reported congestion incidents were intentionally caused by a resident who allegedly obstructed facility entrances, vandalized vehicles and harassed on-site personnel, resulting in 53 police reports.
The lawsuit alleges the city's actions violate California Government Code Section 65850.7, which encourages electric vehicle charging station use and limits obstacles to their operation. Waymo also contends its activities fall within the city's own noise and nuisance standards.
In seeking relief, Waymo asks the court to declare that its overnight operations are authorized by existing permits, do not constitute a public nuisance, and that the city cannot enforce its shutdown demands. The company also seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions preventing the city from interfering with permitted operations.
Waymo emphasized that its autonomous vehicles demonstrate a tenfold reduction in crash rates compared to human drivers and provide essential transportation services, particularly for women who report feeling safer riding without an unfamiliar human driver at night.
The case represents a collision between municipal efforts to address neighborhood quality-of-life concerns and state policies promoting electric vehicle infrastructure and autonomous transportation technology.