Santa Monica orders Waymo to stop noisy overnight operations at charging stations. Neighbors rejoice

Waymo must stop charging its autonomous fleet of cars overnight at two Santa Monica charging stations, the City Council decided last week as a way to resolve a months-long dispute between local residents and the driverless taxi company.

On a unanimous vote, the Santa Monica City Council voted Tuesday to issue a directive to Waymo, the owner of the property and its lessees, to stop overnight operations at the charging stations.

“If the owners and lessees and operators do not comply within an expedited time frame, [the city would then be instructed] to initiate litigation to abate nuisance conditions,” Interim City Atty. Heidi von Tongeln said during Tuesday’s council meeting.

Several local residents have complained about round-the-clock beeping and humming emitted by the self-driving cars as they make their way to two charging stations near the intersection of Euclid Street and Broadway. Waymo said it took steps to reduce noise at the charging stations, but residents still insist the stations are a nuisance, arguing that the noise keeps them up at night and the driverless cars are clogging the streets.

According to a letter from the city to Waymo, obtained by The Times, Santa Monica demanded that the two lots stop operating at night starting Wednesday, from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.

“The City has received many complaints from neighboring residents regarding the Broadway Lots, and particularly that the overnight operations of the lots are very disruptive to their sleep and peace and quite enjoyment of their homes,” the letter reads.

A city spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment or questions to what prompted the city to consider the demand.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Waymo said the company was committed to operating and investing in the city, but did not answer whether or not the company planned to comply with the city’s directive.

“We’ve been engaging with the city since day one of our operations, and we are committed to working with them to be responsive to our neighbors,” the statement read. “In response to neighbors’ feedback, we adjusted our operations at the site, and we’ll continue to seek community input.”

To address some concerns, Waymo officials pointed to mitigation efforts, like using vegetation around the lots to cut down on light and noise.

A total of 56 Waymo vehicles can charge at the same time at the two stations in Santa Monica. The company has been growing rapidly and expanding the streets where the white, autonomous vehicles can operate, but residents said they received no warning that two charging stations would be operating in their neighborhoods. Emails obtained by The Times suggest that city officials were also caught off-guard by the Waymo lots, and learned about the two stations only after residents started to complain about the noise.

The letter from the city to Waymo alleges that the company contracted by Waymo to charge its fleet at the lots, Voltera, had “continue[d] to downplay the legitimate complaints from a significant number of neighbors, and to wrongfully insist that it and its customer Waymo are immunized from all regulation and entitled to conduct their business however they want.”

A spokesperson for Voltera did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Neighbors of the charging station express relief at the city’s action.

“I’m happy to see that the city has taken a stand,” said Christopher Potter, who lives near one of the lots and started an online petition urging the company to reduce its sound pollution.

Still, Potter said he’s not sure whether Waymo and Voltera will make any changes for the better.

“They come in and they set up shop and they just want to do what they want to do,” he said.

Potter pointed out that several months ago the Waymo vehicles reduced the volume of its beeping, when the vehicles drive in reverse, when in the lots. Now the vehicles only beep when there is someone or an object behind them. But the noise is still significant.

Darius Boorn, who also lives near the lots, agrees.

“I can’t have the windows open because there’s always noise,” he said. “If they [Waymo] really wanted to do something, they could do it.”

Despite the city’s letter to Waymo, Boorn said he believes it was frustrated residents who forced the city to act.

“I truly believe that we forced their hand,” he said. “I think the city finally realized, our backs are against the wall unless we do this for the residents.”

The decisions comes after months of tension between the Waymo, the rapidly expanding driverless taxi company, and residents who allege the charging stations were installed without warning or input from neighbors, and have been constant nuisance since it started operating in January of this year.

Some residents took matters into their own hands by using cones to block Waymos from entering the parking lots and blocking their way into streets and alleys. Some residents also started to block the cars by standing and blocking the driveways to the charging stations, forcing the autonomous cars to stack up along the street waiting for a chance to enter.

Residents started to refer to the protest action as going out to “stack the Waymos.”

Police have been called multiple times to the charging stations, and Waymo at one point unsuccessfully tried to get a temporary restraining order against a resident who continued to protest against the stations.

According to the letter sent by the city to Waymo, city officials have received more than 40 complaints from 15 different individuals regarding noise, light, and traffic in the area because of the lots, prompting the city to meet with neighborhood residents Oct. 15.

The letter also points to an incident on Nov. 2 when a long line of Waymos began to stack up in an alley leading to the lots, forcing attendants to work for about 20 minutes to clear out the blockage.

“If there had been a fire in one of the buildings or a first responder needed to access the area, they would have been trapped and blocked,” the letter from the city reads. “This is not the first such incident, only the most recent.”

The Santa Monica clash could be a sign of possible growing pains for the company as it continues to expand operations into other major cities across the state.

The company in June announced it would be expanding its service area in Los Angeles to more than 120 square miles in the county, ferrying passengers in Playa del Rey, Ladera Hieghts, Echo Park, Silver Lake and across Sunset Boulevard.

Earlier this month Waymo announced it would begin operating on freeways in Los Angeles and San Francisco as well, expanding the distances it could take passengers in the two cities. The company also operates in Santa Monica, Culver City and downtown Los Angeles.

Last week, Waymo announced its driverless cars would start operating in Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando. On Friday, the company announced on social media it was also now authorized to drive over a wider area in San Francisco and Sacramento, and that the vehicles would start making an appearance in San Diego in mid-2026.