JERSEY CITY -- Jersey City is poised to block CVS's plans to open a new location in a Waterfront office building, with the city expected to cite its chain store restrictions to kill the deal.

The pharmacy giant recently signed a long-term lease for nearly 20,000 square feet of space on the ground floor of the 12-story building at 70 Hudson St. The property is one of numerous in the Downtown where the city's chain store restrictions are in place.

City spokeswoman Jennifer Morill told the Hudson Reporter this week that the CVS would be in violation of the restrictions on chain stores and that its certificate of occupancy would be denied. She was less specific when The Jersey Journal asked her to comment yesterday.

"This business will be subject to all Jersey City applicable ordinances just like every other business throughout the city that must comply with ordinances in place," Morrill said.

Requests for comment from CVS and from the building's owners, Spear Street Capital, were not returned.

Morrill said the C.O. has not been denied yet.

The city's move to block the CVS has at least one supporter: Ariel Zaurov, co-owner of Downtown Pharmacy, which has two locations, one of them just two blocks south of 70 Hudson. Zaurov told The Jersey Journal he has met with city officials as recently as last week about the CVS deal.

Zaurov called the city's plan to block the store from opening "good news."

CVS is "a monopoly," said Zaurov, who opened his pharmacy in 2005. "Their aim is not to co-exist but to take over."

Chain stores aren't entirely banned, but they cannot take up more than 30 percent of ground-floor commercial space in any one lot in the zone, which includes a number of noncontiguous areas Downtown. Mayor Steve Fulop, who led the effort to put the restrictions into place in May 2015, said they would protect the character of Downtown neighborhoods.

A map of Downtown Jersey City shows where CVS wants to open a new location. The purple areas are where chain stores are restricted, while the restrictions do not apply in the areas shaded white and tan.

If CVS had picked a location two blocks north, it would not have a problem -- Waterfront properties from the Hoboken border down to Exchange Place are exempt from the chain store restrictions. This illustrates how "absurd" the policy is, according to John Holub, president of the New Jersey Retail Merchant Association.

Holub told The Jersey Journal the ban allows city officials to "pick and choose winners and losers" instead of allowing market forces to work.

"You have an administration that hands out tax abatements like candy but wants to dictate what stores open," he said.

The Jersey Journal asked Morrill why chain stores are allowed in Exchange Place but restricted two blocks south. She did not respond.

In February Krispy Kreme opened a location inside the zone where chain stores are restricted. The city argued the doughnut chain's Jersey City shop is unique because it is a "factory" store, not a normal retail location.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.