By Jorge Casuso

July 29, 2026 – Waymo will be barred from operating its charging and servicing lots on Broadway overnight after an LA County Superior Court judge on Monday granted the City's motion for a preliminary injunction in its public nuisance case.

Under the Court's order, Waymo is prohibited from operating the lots at 1222 and 1310 Broadway between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. while the case moves to trial.

In granting the injunction, the Court found the City "had established a reasonable probability of prevailing on the merits of its public nuisance claim," City officials said in a statement Tuesday.

The ruling concluded that "the continual noise, lights and traffic generated by overnight operations" at the adjacent sites "interfere with nearby residents' comfortable enjoyment of their lives and homes," officials said

“While the evidence shows that the parties have attempted to mitigate the noise, lights and traffic, it does not show that those efforts have been sufficiently successful to eliminate the public nuisance that is created,” Judge Bradley S. Phillips wrote in the ruling.

For more than a year, neighboring residents have complained of persistent disruptions they have compared to living in a "mini-Las Vegas,” “next door to a spaceship” or next to “a circus,” according to court documents presented by the City .

The court papers describe how workers talk all night and vehicles roll in and out of the lots creating sounds that “echo off buildings along the alleys like a canyon.”

"Our residents' ability to sleep peacefully in their own homes is not negotiable," Mayor Caroline Torosis said in a statement Tuesday. “This ruling affirms what our neighbors have been telling us for more than a year, and it delivers relief while the case moves forward."

City officials said they worked for months in an effort to cooperatively resolve the impacts and made formal requests to modify overnight operations. The parties also engaged in "an extensive mediation process."

"The City remains committed to working with Waymo and its partners on operational, design, and site improvements that reduce impacts on neighbors over the long term," City officials said.

"To that end, the Court has scheduled a status conference for Oct. 23, 2026, to review the status of potential remediation measures at the Broadway sites."

City officials emphasized that the case is not about whether autonomous vehicles should be allowed to operate in Santa Monica.

"Waymo vehicles continue to serve tens of thousands of riders in the city and in the region each month," officials said, "and Santa Monica has adopted a regulatory framework designed to guide how fleet charging facilities can operate successfully alongside residential neighborhoods."

The preliminary injunction will remain in effect pending trial, when the City's public nuisance claims will be fully adjudicated, officials said.