The City of Santa Monica’s ongoing legal dispute with Waymo hit a speedbump this month when the court overturned a previous ruling that had prevented Waymo from using its disputed facility on Broadway.
The new ruling allows Waymo to continue operations in the city.
“The petition for writ of supersedeas filed on August 11, 2026, has been read and considered, along with the opposition and reply. The petition is granted. The preliminary injunction issued on July 27, 2026 is stayed during the pendency of the appeal. The request for judicial notice is denied as unnecessary to the decision,” said the court.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge previously granted the City of Santa Monica's request for a preliminary injunction barring Waymo from operating its Broadway autonomous vehicle charging facilities overnight, siding with residents who had complained for more than a year about noise, light and traffic at the sites. The order prohibited Waymo from running its charging lots at 1222 and 1310 Broadway between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. while the underlying public nuisance case proceeded toward trial. The court found the city had established a reasonable probability of prevailing on its nuisance claim, and that the harm to residents outweighed any harm to Waymo, since the company could still offer overnight rides using vehicles charged during the day.
The dispute began in November 2024, when Waymo started using the two lots — run by charging company Voltera Power on property owned by SMF Property Holdings LLC — to charge vehicles serving the greater Los Angeles area. Residents reported reverse-beeping, humming, late-night worker noise, flashing lights and alley traffic congestion. In November 2025, the Santa Monica City Council voted 6-0 to order overnight operations shut down and declared the facilities a public nuisance. Waymo did not comply and instead sued the city on Dec. 17, 2025, arguing its operations were lawful; the city countersued a week later, seeking to have the lots declared a nuisance, which formed the basis for the injunction.
Waymo said it had taken steps to reduce noise and light and had invested heavily in the Santa Monica community. The court scheduled an Oct. 23 status conference to review potential remediation measures at the sites, with the injunction remaining in effect until trial.