By: Gil Smart, Treasure Coast Newspapers
I banged on Rick Zurich's door, inadvertently, Thursday morning.
I was going door to door, curious what neighbors thought about the proposed Rio Town Center down the block. No one was home except at one house with three vehicles out front.
I knocked and out came Zurich, who chairs the Rio Neighborhood Advisory Committee.
He lives a quarter-mile from the site, which at buildout will be a "live/work" community with 146 apartments and condos and commercial space, including at least one restaurant, a marina, even a lighthouse.
For the record, he's in favor of it.
You might say he's been waiting for it for nearly half a century.
"We bought here in 1971," said Zurich. "We thought Rio was poised to take off then."
But revitalization proved to be elusive. There's been some new investment, but Rio just can't seem to catch that spark, that big project that changes everything.
Until, maybe, now.
On Tuesday, Martin County commissioners approved the revised master site plan and Phase 1 plan for Rio Town Center. The project is to be built in six phases; the first will include four buildings, 18 apartments, 38,000 feet of commercial space and infrastructure…