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People v. Venice Suites, LLC, 71 Cal.App.5th 715 (2021) 286 Cal.Rptr.3d 598, 21 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 11,565, 2021 Daily Journal D.A.R. 11,835 an agreement in writing between the operator and the technology/apartment-house> [as of Nov. 15, 2021]; Creedon occupant providing for a longer period of occupancy. v Lunde (W.D. Wash. 1947) 90 F.Supp. 119, 120-121.) C. The Zoning Code's Definition of Apartment House Controls Over the Dictionary Definition Because the definition of Apartment House does not contain a length of occupancy requirement, the People argue the definition provided in LAMC section 12.03 is incomplete and the common usage of the term apartment house provides the necessary context to show an Apartment House is intended for long-term occupancy. We may not read a minimum length of occupancy into the definition of Apartment House where one is not specified, however. *731 LAMC section 11.01(b) provides, "Words and phrases used in this Code and not specifically defined shall be construed according to the context and approved usage of the language. [Italics added.]" Further, LAMC section 11.01(c) adopts "[t]he provisions of Sections 13 and 1645 of the Civil Code of the State of California ... in the interpretation of words and phrases, unless otherwise provided herein." 4 Civil Code section 13 advises, "Words and phrases are construed according to the context and the approved usage of the language; but technical words and phrases, and such others as may have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in law, or are defined in the succeeding section, are to be construed according to such peculiar and appropriate meaning or definition. [Italics added.]" These provisions of the LAMC and the Civil Code constrain our ability to extend the definition of Apartment House beyond what is set forth in the Zoning Code. The court's function "is simply to ascertain and declare what is in terms or in substance contained therein, not to insert what has been omitted, or to omit what has been inserted...." (Code Civ. Proc., § 1858; Busker v Wabtec Corp (2021) 11 Cal.5th 1147, 282 Cal.Rptr.3d 333, 492 P.3d 963; Guardianship of Elan E. (2000) 85 Cal.App.4th 998, 1001, 102 Cal.Rptr.2d 528.) 5 **610 Even if we were free to adopt the common usage of the term, as the People urge us to do, we are not convinced an Apartment House is restricted to long- term occupancy. The People rely on dictionary definitions and federal caselaw discussing the term to support their argument. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary <https:// www.dictionary.com/browse/apartment-house> [as of Nov. 15, 2021]; Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, "Apartment house" (Aug. 21, 2014) <https://www.britannica.com/ However, our own research shows the definition of apartment house around the time the ordinance was enacted did not restrict it to only long-term *732 occupancy. In FAEdwards u City of Los Angeles (1941) 48 Cal.App.2d 62, 69, 119 P.2d 370, for example, the court discussed a provision in the Civil Code which classified a "furnished apartment house keeper" in a category that included "innkeeper" and "hotel — keeper." (See also Fo Village of Euclid a Ambler Realty Co. (1926) 272 U.S. 365,47 S.Ct. 114,71 L.Ed. 303 [categorizing hotels and apartment houses together].) Likewise, the dictionary definitions for apartment house do not indicate a required length of occupancy. For example, the 1961 edition of Webster's Third New International Dictionary defined "apartment building or apartment house" as "a building containing a number of separate residential units and usu. having conveniences (as heat and elevators) in common" without reference to a length of occupancy while an "apartment hotel" was defined as "an apartment house containing suites equipped for housekeeping purposes and in addition furnished rooms and dining service for transient and permanent guests[.]" (Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1961) p. 98.) Merriam-Webster's present-day definitions for apartment house and apartment hotel remain unchanged from 1961. (Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, https:// unabridged.merriamwebster.com/unabridged/apartment %20building [as of Nov. 15, 2021]; Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, https://unabridged.merriam- webster.coin/unabridged/apartment%20hotel [as of Nov. 15, 2021]; see also Dictionary of Architecture and Construction (1975) p. 20 [an apartment hotel is "[an] apartment house which supplies living quarters suitable for light housekeeping and has public dining facilities."].) It is evident the term apartment house in common usage does not indicate only long-term occupancy, whether in 1956 or in the present day. The People's argument fails. D. The Permissive Zoning Scheme Does Not Apply to Length of Occupancy [22] The People further rely on the principle that "the expression of certain things in a statute necessarily involves exclusion of other things not expressed" to argue the City Council's express limitation of a TORS occupancy to 30 days or less means that an Apartment House is WESTLAW © 2023 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 10