Waymo can keep running its Broadway autonomous vehicle charging lots around the clock after a California appeals court stayed a judge's order that had shut down overnight operations.
The California Court of Appeal granted Waymo's petition to block enforcement of the July 27 preliminary injunction for the duration of the company's appeal. The Santa Monica Daily Press reported the ruling on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
The decision is a legal setback for the City of Santa Monica. The city had won the injunction barring Waymo from operating its charging facilities at 1222 and 1310 Broadway between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Bradley S. Phillips issued that order on July 27, finding that noise, lights and traffic disruptions from the lots supported a public nuisance claim.
Phillips wrote that while both sides had tried to reduce the problems, those efforts had not been "sufficiently successful to eliminate the public nuisance," according to the Santa Monica Lookout.
Waymo filed a notice of appeal three days later and submitted a formal petition to stay the injunction on Aug. 11. The appeals court first issued a temporary stay around Aug. 15, allowing 24-hour operations to resume while it weighed the full petition. The formal stay now keeps those operations running until the appeal is resolved.
City Attorney Heidi von Tongeln pushed back when the temporary stay was issued. "Temporary orders do not end this dispute for our residents," von Tongeln said on Aug. 15. "A final decision does, and we will be urging the court to move quickly toward one."
Neither the city nor Waymo has issued a public statement on the formal stay as of Tuesday, Sept. 15.
Broadway lot complaints stretch back to 2024
Residents near the Broadway lots have complained of disruptions since Waymo began using the sites in November 2024. Neighbors described the experience as living next to a "mini-Las Vegas" or "a circus," according to court documents cited by the Lookout. Complaints centered on reverse-beeping, humming, late-night worker noise, flashing lights and alley congestion.
Dylan Moore, a 16-year resident of the 1500 block of Euclid Street, set up a camera and counted 350 to 400 Waymo vehicles passing through the adjacent alley every 24 hours, according to city records from a May 13 hearing.
The Santa Monica City Council voted 6-0 in November 2025 to order overnight operations shut down and declared the facilities a public nuisance. Waymo did not comply and sued the city on Dec. 17, 2025, arguing its October 2023 permits authorized 24-hour charging. The city countersued a week later.
Waymo has said it took steps to reduce impacts, including software updates to cut reverse-beeping noise, landscaping and barriers, restrictions on overnight vehicle vacuuming and changes to traffic flow. Judge Phillips found those efforts insufficient.
What comes next
The underlying public nuisance lawsuit remains active. A status conference is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 23, to review potential remediation measures at the Broadway sites. Meanwhile, the California Public Utilities Commission approved Waymo's expansion of paid autonomous ride-hailing across the broader Los Angeles area in August 2026, the Westside Current reported.
