Stealth Takings: Forcing the Current Landholder to Pay for Public Benefits
Apparently, the public wants to preserve the house where the Apple Computer was born. OK. So is some private non-profit gathering money to buy it and preserve it? Has the local town appropriated money to buy it and take it over?
None of the above. The town is simply designating the house as a landmark, imposing all sorts of new costs on the current owner. This is a taking, and should be treated as such
It doesn't seem like Patricia Jobs, sister of famed Apple co-founder Steve, is exactly onboard with her family home being designated a "historic resource" by the Los Altos Historical Commission. Not that it matters, anyway. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the decision to preserve the one-story home at 2066 Crist Drive where Jobs got a start building the first Apple computers was made independent of her consent. The distinction, which Patricia can still appeal, also means any renovations/repairs to the home would first have to be reviewed by the commission -- so you can understand why the honor's both a blessing and a curse.
