An Atlantic County beach town is asking its residents to respect the sand dunes and take their beach chairs with them when they go home.

Many people who visit the beach in Margate lock their beach chairs onto the fence by the dunes, instead of taking them home. Margate officials say that this is more of an environmental concern than anything else.

“I’ve seen the chairs tied up and it’s more of an eyesore…to me as a visitor,” says Shelly Shotel of Horsham, Pennsylvania.

Shotel was visiting Margate with her family this week. She says that she – like many others – carried their chairs, coolers and bags to the beach.

“I think for some people, it could be a health issue just schlepping it so far. And I think other people, it could be laziness,” Shotel says.

The Margate business administrator tells News 12 New Jersey that they are asking people to come and get their chairs. But there is no current plan to take action to remove the chairs. Officials say they are hoping that people take it upon themselves to listen to the request.

“They shouldn’t have them on the dunes. No one is supposed to be messing up the dunes. They should have them somewhere else. Put them on the bulkheads,” says Margate resident Barbara Tadley.

The city is hoping to come up with a long-term solution for storing chairs during the off-season and have it ready by next summer.