Even before burdensome and complex regulations plunged a prominent Japantown business owner and his family into near financial ruin, the unintended consequences from San Jose’s historic preservation rules had already bubbled to the surface.

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While Japantown has a large number of buildings steeped in historical significance, it’s also become representative of the ambiguous, lengthy and costly bureaucracy involving these structures. It’s a cumbersome system, business owners say, that creates the opposite of the desired effect: neglect or abandonment instead of investment and preservation.

Japantown Business Association President Tamiko Rast, along with her family, has spent decades navigating the complex regulations and has experienced the frustrations firsthand. Along a t

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