TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. () — More than 30 benches pointing Tybee’s visitors to local businesses may be taken by the city.

The benches are property of Devivo Marketing, owned by Charissa Murray and her family. Their business model has revolved around local businesses buying advertising space on the benches which align Highway 80 and are on other parts of the island.

“They keep Tybee quirky,” said Murray.

Murray told she was contacted by the city with their intentions to shut down the operation.

“They notified us they’d like to clean up the clutter and make Tybee beautiful again,” she said.

In a statement posted to Facebook, the city said in part “The City of Tybee Island has developed plans for a new wayfinding system designed to reinforce this brand, improve navigation, and enhance the aesthetics of our streetscape. This will replace the current mismatched, confusing sign system that currently clutters our roadways and detracts from Tybee’s character.”

The bench business has been in practice for around 50 years, and Murray’s family took over the bench business 20 years ago.

During 2010 rezoning, the benches were “grandfathered into their existing locations with approval from city council.

Now their existence is being challenged by the city for a variety of reasons.

Also in the statement, the city said in part “there is no clear agreement authorizing their placement on public property.”

The post continues, “The City enforces strict sign standards for private property owners, routinely removing unpermitted signs from public property. Allowing one private company to maintain long-term advertising on public land raises concerns about fairness and is inconsistent with the treatment of other businesses.”

The rest of the post can be found on the City of Tybee Island’s Facebook.

Murray said the benches are beloved by locals, visitors and businesses, exponentially helping their sales.

“All the businesses love them. They all like to have their business and location on display. A lot of them are pointing at locations.”

There is also the personal attachment the Murray family has to their operation. Murray said this is their way of serving the community.

“We have been very big part of the community for all of this time. We give back. We donate our time. I mean, everything. I just don’t understand.”

Not only that, she said their livelihood is at stake too if the benches are removed.

“Well, I mean, it’s it’s a big hit for a business that’s 40% down, as is most Tybee Island businesses right now. Tourism is down, and the first thing that people cut when they cut their budgets is marketing dollars. We’ve weathered that. That’s fine, but to take a massive hit like this could bankrupt my family’s business.”

Murray said the benches would be removed within the year to allow for contract expirations if the city follows through with their plans.