Jersey City’s mayor is planning to introduce a bill that would limit the number of chain stores that dot the streets of the Garden State’s second most populous city.
A proposed city regulation would see only 30 percent of commercial space in downtown Jersey City rented to businesses with 10 or more locations within 300 miles of the city. The plan, which is similar to small business-friendly codes in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and San Francisco, is set to be introduced at a city council meeting Tuesday night.
Mayor Steve Fulop says the plan would drastically limit chain stores and restaurants from pushing out mom-and-pops stores out of the city.
"I don't think anybody wants to live in a city that is chain store after chain store, Starbucks after TGIF's," he told NBC 4 New York.
The proposal has been praised by local business owners.
Napoleon Vargas has had his designer resale store in the city for three years.
"Let's say an Urban Outfitters opens up in front of my shop," he said. "That would totally take me down."
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"I'm trying to bring a different flare than what a big chain would bring to the town," said Stefania Cocozza, owner of the 9 Bar Cafe, one of the about 150 new and small businesses to open in Jersey City in the last year.
The mayor's proposed zoning amendment would affect 40 redevelopment plans covering virtually all of downtown Jersey City, including the new Charles and Company residential and office complex across the street from City Hall.
Owner and developer Eric Silverman said it's often easier to deal with chains but he's on board with the proposal, saying he thinks it will be good overall for Jersey City.
Critics, on the other hand, say that the rule would be discriminatory and that the free market should determine which stores and restaurants end up downtown.
The president of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce told the Wall Street Journal the proposal was “ridiculous” and could have a cooling effect on the city’s growth.
-- Roseanne Colletti contributed to this report
