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SANTA MONICA, Calif. () — The city of Santa Monica is asking a judge to declare the two Waymo LLC Broadway recharging 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 in Beverly Hills Superior Court, 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 recharging operations at the two lots from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. or by ordering other “appropriate measures to abate the nighttime nuisances.”
Although the alleged nuisances have cost residents their sleep and the peace and quiet enjoyment of their homes, repeated requests from the city to abate the problem have been rejected, the city alleges in its court papers.
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.
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.”
Below is the full statement from a Waymo spokesperson:
“The City of Santa Monica’s recent actions are inconsistent with its stated goal of attracting investment, as outlined in its Realignment Plan. At a time when the City faces a serious fiscal crisis, officials are choosing to obstruct properly permitted investment rather than fostering a ‘ready for business’ environment. Waymo has already invested millions of dollars into the Santa Monica community, where we proudly serve tens of thousands of riders each week who rely on our service for safe, efficient transportation.
Waymo has demonstrated a consistent commitment to being a good neighbor, including by consulting with regulators to mitigate noise concerns – an effort the City itself acknowledged as successful. However, the City has been unwilling to authorize simple improvements to respond to neighbors’ feedback, and now objects to use of the public alleyway their own Department of Transportation asked us to use. We are disappointed that the City has chosen an adversarial path over a collaborative one. Waymo and Voltera remain in full compliance with all local requirements and will continue our operations accordingly.”
City News Service, Inc. contributed to this report.
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