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People v. Venice Suites, LLC, 71 Cal.App.5th 715 (2021)
<br />286 Cal.Rptr.3d 598, 21 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 11,565, 2021 Daily Journal D.A.R. 11,835
<br />et seq.) "Rental units" include "[a]ll dwelling units, efficiency
<br />dwelling units, guest rooms, and suites, as defined in Section
<br />12.03 [of the Zoning Code]" but exclude, among other things,
<br />"[h]ousing accommodations in hotels, motels, inns, tourist
<br />homes and boarding and rooming houses, provided that
<br />at such time as an accommodation has been occupied as
<br />the primary residence of one or more of the same tenants
<br />for any period more than 30 days such accommodation
<br />shall become a rental unit subject to the provisions of this
<br />chapter." (LAMC, § 151.02.) A tenant under the RSO is
<br />defined as a "person entitled to use or occupancy of a rental
<br />unit." (Ibid.) According to the People, a rental unit, by
<br />definition, is limited to occupancies lasting longer than 30
<br />days. Thus, a tenant under the RSO is someone who occupies
<br />a rental unit for more than 30 days.
<br />By contrast, a transient is defined by the TOT, in
<br />pertinent part, as "[a]ny individual who personally exercises
<br />occupancy ... for a period of 30 consecutive calendar days or
<br />less[.]" Relying on the definitions for rental units and tenant
<br />found in the RSO and transient in the TOT, the People argue
<br />that only a tenant is entitled to use or occupy rental units.
<br />Transients, on the other hand, may not occupy rental units
<br />because occupancies of 30 days or less are *735 not included
<br />within the definition of rental units. Because the dwelling
<br />units, guest rooms, or suites in an apartment house constitute
<br />rental units subject to the RSO and transients may not occupy
<br />rental units, the People reason that transients also may not
<br />occupy apartment houses.
<br />We are not persuaded. As we discussed above, the City
<br />Council enacted the Zoning Code to "consolidate and
<br />coordinate all existing zoning regulations and provisions into
<br />one comprehensive zoning plan in order to designate, regulate
<br />and restrict the location and use of buildings, structures and
<br />land, for agriculture, residence, commerce, trade, industry or
<br />other purposes." (LAMC, § 12.02.) In short, the Zoning Code
<br />is intended to regulate all uses of buildings for residential
<br />purposes.
<br />The RSO, on the other hand, regulates rents, in pertinent
<br />part, to safeguard tenants from excessive rent increases due
<br />to the lack of "decent, safe and sanitary housing at affordable
<br />rent levels." (LAMC, § 151.01.) It is clear the City Council
<br />enacted the RSO to address a shortage of affordable housing.
<br />Its stated purpose is not to resolve a general housing shortage
<br />by regulating short-term rentals. Neither does the RSO state
<br />an intent to regulate the occupancy of residential buildings,
<br />as asserted by the People. It merely denies the benefit of
<br />rent control to those individuals who rent accommodations at
<br />hotels, motels, inns, tourist homes and boarding **613 and
<br />rooming houses for 30 days or less. (LAMC, § 151.02.)
<br />The rules of statutory construction dictate we rely on the
<br />Zoning Code rather than the RSO and TOT to effectuate
<br />the City Council's purpose. (People v Gonzalez, supra,
<br />2 Cal.5th at p. 1141, 218 Cal.Rptr.3d 150, 394 P.3d 1074.)
<br />Here, we are required to decide what is an allowable use of a
<br />residential building located in an R3 zone. The Zoning Code
<br />addresses precisely this issue because it regulates all uses of
<br />buildings for residential purposes.
<br />As discussed above, the Zoning Code expressly authorizes
<br />the use of an Apartment House in an R3 zone for human
<br />habitation with no length of occupancy restriction. The
<br />Zoning Code does not limit the occupancy of Apartment
<br />Houses to only tenants. Even if it did, however, the Zoning
<br />Code defines a tenant as "[a] person who rents, leases
<br />or sub -leases, through either a written or oral agreement,
<br />residential real property from another," with no length of
<br />occupancy restriction. We decline to disregard the Zoning
<br />Code's definition of tenant and adopt the RSO definition of
<br />tenant to impose a length of occupancy restriction that is not
<br />there.
<br />In any case, the Zoning Code, the RSO, and the TOT do
<br />not conflict with the concept of an Apartment House that
<br />encompasses both short-term and long-term occupancies.
<br />Indeed, the TOT expressly contemplates that Apartment
<br />Houses may be occupied by transients, who exercise
<br />occupancy for 30 *736 days or less. Under the TOT, a hotel
<br />is defined as "any structure, or any portion of any structure,
<br />which is occupied or intended or designed for occupancy by
<br />transients for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes, and
<br />includes any ... apartment house, dormitory, public or private
<br />club, or other similar structure or portion thereof ..." (LAMC,
<br />§ 21.7.2(b) [italics added].)
<br />By its plain language, the RSO extends the benefits of rent
<br />control to the dwelling units, guest rooms, and suites that
<br />make up Apartment Houses if the occupancy lasts longer than
<br />30 days because a landlord may not demand more than the
<br />permitted maximum monthly rent, which is adjusted from
<br />time to time. (LAMC, § 151.04.) That the RSO applies only
<br />to monthly, and not weekly or daily, rent does not compel
<br />the conclusion that an Apartment House is limited to long-
<br />term occupancy in the Zoning Code. If an Apartment House
<br />is occupied for 30 days or less, it simply does not benefit from
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