Santa Monica calls Waymo charging sites a ‘public nuisance,’ asks judge to limit overnight operations

LOS ANGELES - The city of Santa Monica is asking a judge to declare the two Waymo charging stations public nuisances and order that overnight operations be curtailed due to the effects of noise and lighting on nearby residents.

The city's court papers, filed Dec. 24, say those who live near the stations have used such terms as "mini-Las Vegas," "living next door to a spaceship," "a circus" and "a city that never sleeps" to describe their plight.

Residents also say they hear workers' whole conversations in normal speaking voices in the middle of the night, along with all the other sounds the Waymo cars make, which "echo off buildings along the alleys like a canyon," according to the city's court papers, which state that lights from cars and awnings are more glaring when it is dark.

The proposed injunction would stop charging operations at the two lots from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. or by ordering other "appropriate measures to abate the nighttime nuisances."

Residents voice concerns 

What they're saying:

In a sworn declaration, resident Paula Achter, who works from home, says she has had to adjust her sleeping habits and do her job from a different location in her apartment due to the noise from the Waymo vehicles passing by her building. She further says that humans are not the only ones being bothered.

"I used to hear birds singing in the morning from my apartment," the 69-year-old Achter says. "I've noticed I don't hear them anymore. I believe that they have nested elsewhere due to the Waymo frequency."

Victoria Benchuk, a single mother of an autistic 5-year-old son, says in her declaration that the Waymo lot near her building opened a few months after she and her boy moved into their apartment in October 2024.

"When there are multiple Waymos stopped in the alley, the noise from the motors, the beeping and the people talking and working in the Waymos lot wake up my son two to four nights a week and he has trouble getting back to sleep," Benchuk says. "I often have to bring my son into the living room, where I sleep to help him settle back down."

Benchuk further says her son did not have the same sleeping issues before the Waymo lot opened or when they lived in their prior apartment.

City releases statement 

The city of Santa Monica released a statement saying, "Santa Monica supports clean transportation and innovative mobility services, and we worked for months in an attempt to resolve this issue cooperatively. Residents living next to Waymo’s Broadway charging facilities have experienced persistent overnight noise, lighting, and traffic impacts that interfere with sleep, safety, and basic livability.

The City repeatedly proposed targeted operational changes – short of shutting down service – that would have materially reduced those impacts.  Waymo refused to take those steps.

While asking the City to delay litigation and continue discussions, Waymo filed its own lawsuit without notice, seeking a court order that would prevent the City from enforcing nuisance protections or requiring further mitigation.  That action left the City no responsible alternative but to file its own case to protect our residents and renters.

This is not about opposing Waymo or EV charging.  It is about enforcing long-standing nuisance laws that apply to every business when operations substantially interfere with public health, safety, and quality of life.  We remain open to early mediation and a prompt resolution."

The other side:

In its own lawsuit filed against the city on Dec. 17, Waymo denies a public nuisance exists. The suit says that in response to residential complaints, the company hired more staff, implemented software updates to reduce noise levels and frequencies, installed light and noise barriers and modified "vehicle behaviors" in the area.

"These changes resulted in a material decrease in noise and light levels during Waymo's overnight operations, and traffic congestion in the surrounding areas was reduced," according to the Waymo suit, which seeks injunctive relief, preventing the city from interfering with what the company says is its "lawful use of the Broadway facilities."