The Surfside Beach Town Council passed a resolution at Tuesday’s meeting that will allow the owners of the Surf Diner to place off-site signage along Surfside Beach Pier.

Town Clerk Debra Herrmann said this gives the diner owners the same equal opportunity that other pier businesses have when it comes to off-site signs.

Surf Diner opened its doors to the public with a soft opening just before the July 4 holiday.

The restaurant had sat empty for almost two years before leaders of Surfside Beach settled on the eatery in January after a series of unsuccessful bids following the expiration of a lease held by Nibils which had sat on the pier for 20 years.

The Surf Diner and Surfside Beach inked a deal for a five-year lease with options to renew the contract in three additional five-year terms, with rent starting at $50,000 and jumping $2,500 each year for the first 10 years.

Filling the space wasn’t easy and a lawsuit filed by a New Jersey couple who had a conditional agreement to lease the restaurant with the town remains pending.

Restaurants weren’t the only item on the Town Council’s agenda Tuesday night.

The council adopted a resolution to participate in the fiscal year 2013 federal match program through the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

Herrmann said money through this program will go toward repaving a 2.1 mile stretch of U.S. 17 Business in the town’s corporate limits.

It’s a 50/50 split, with the town paying for half of the paving, and the other half coming through the match program, Herrmann added.

She said the estimated cost of the project is $1.3 million.

Contact BRAD DICKERSON at 626-0301.