Santa Monica's opposition brief, due Monday, Aug. 24, challenges Waymo's bid to keep overnight charging operations running at two Broadway lots while the company appeals a court order that shut down overnight activity.

The California Court of Appeal set a Wednesday, Sept. 2, deadline for Waymo to file its reply. After that, the court will decide whether to grant a formal stay of the preliminary injunction that Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Bradley S. Phillips issued July 27.

That injunction barred Waymo from operating its facilities at 1222 and 1310 Broadway between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. But a temporary stay issued Aug. 15 let the company resume round-the-clock operations before the city could respond.

City Attorney Heidi von Tongeln said the temporary pause "was issued without the benefit of the City's opposition, and it has not reversed or vacated the trial court's findings."

"Temporary orders do not end this dispute for our residents," von Tongeln said, according to the Argonaut. "A final decision does, and we will be urging the court to move quickly toward one."

The appellate court also directed both sides to propose an expedited schedule for the full appeal.

Waymo opened the two Broadway facilities in 2024 to charge 50 autonomous Jaguar I-PACEs. Neighbors have reported for more than a year that overnight noise, headlights and vehicle traffic make it difficult to sleep. Court documents describe residents comparing the disruptions to living in a "mini-Las Vegas" or "next door to a spaceship," with sounds that "echo off buildings along the alleys like a canyon," according to Santa Monica Lookout reporting on the July 27 ruling.

The city tried for months to resolve the problem through direct talks with Waymo, formal requests and mediation. Waymo attempted software updates that reduced the frequency of its reverse beepers, but Judge Phillips found those efforts insufficient. The Santa Monica City Council voted 6-0 in November 2025 to declare the operations a public nuisance. Both sides filed competing lawsuits in December 2025.

When he issued the injunction in July, Judge Phillips wrote that "the parties have attempted to mitigate the noise, lights and traffic" but that those efforts had not "been sufficiently successful to eliminate the public nuisance that is created."

Mayor Caroline Torosis said at the time of the July ruling: "Our residents' ability to sleep peacefully in their own homes is not negotiable."

City officials have emphasized the case targets land-use impacts, not autonomous vehicles themselves. Waymo vehicles continue to serve tens of thousands of riders in the city and region each month.

A status conference is scheduled for Oct. 23. The Wednesday, Sept. 2, reply deadline is the next date Broadway neighbors should watch.