One of the most important contributions made by former Victoria mayor Peter Pollen is not what you see, but what you don鈥檛: forests of highrise buildings around the Inner Harbour.
Pollen, who died Tuesday at the age of 89, served four two-year terms as mayor in the 1970s and 1980s. Those were formative years for Victoria, and the city could have gone in a vastly different direction if it hadn鈥檛 been for his leadership.
Pollen fell in love with Victoria when he moved to 91原创 Island in 1963, and that passion never waned.
鈥淣ow that I am in my 89th year, rarely a day goes by when I don鈥檛 thank my stars for living my life in this wonderful city,鈥� he wrote in a Times 91原创 commentary a year ago today. 鈥淯nfortunately, it鈥檚 easy to spoil a paradise with one big mistake.鈥�
He was writing in opposition to the development of a mega-yacht marina on the north shore of the harbour. It was a variation on a theme he repeatedly expressed through the years.
鈥淲hen I first ran for mayor, it was to prevent a big mistake,鈥� he said. 鈥淯nder political pressure, the city was poised to approve a huge construction project comprising three, 30-storey buildings called the Reid Towers, two on the harbour shore and one in the water. Completely out of scale, they would have blocked the waterfront and dominated the Empress Hotel and legislature.鈥�
He wrote that as a businessman, he always favoured 鈥渟ound and appropriate development,鈥� but in his view, the new marina was not appropriate.
鈥淎s with the Reid Towers, there is something outlandish in a promoter鈥檚 plan to invade the quiet North Shore walkways, waterways and views enjoyed by so many Victorians, in order to build a marina for storing large luxury yachts,鈥� he wrote.
鈥淭o make space for the marina they intend disrupting and displacing thousands of regular users of what is, in fact, public land, a combination of city waterfront and a Crown-land water lot controlled by the province.鈥�
His opinion notwithstanding, the marina development was approved and is expected to be completed this spring.
He didn鈥檛 always win his battles to protect the unique character of Victoria, but he won enough.
鈥淭wenty-five years ago, Victoria鈥檚 business and civic climate strongly favored a proliferation of highrises; the momentum seemed unstoppable,鈥� said a 1995 Times 91原创 editorial. 鈥淏ut 鈥� Pollen made others see the folly of that route and, as a result, Victoria hasn鈥檛 become a small-scale replica of 91原创.鈥�
Former TC columnist Jim Hume referred to him as the 鈥渕ercurial Peter Pollen whose arbitrary planning ideas were often challengeable, but who, possibly more than any other chief magistrate, forced Victorians to think about the emerging face of their city.鈥�
He was a plain talker. Commenting on his willingness to hear from the public while mayor, he said: 鈥淲e never turned anyone down. I listened to lunatic after lunatic.鈥�
That earned him a scolding, in the form of a Times 91原创 opinion piece from former B.C. ombudsman Dulcie McCallum, who said Pollen鈥檚 comment disparaged people with mental disabilities.
But Pollen, while sometimes blunt, was not insensitive. Michael Elcock, former chief executive of Tourism Victoria, wrote that Pollen was 鈥渁 man of intelligence, and a mayor who had a rare sense of vision for the city. In particular, he had a very good idea that things work better when people actually live in numbers in a city centre, instead of simply visiting it during office hours or the tourist season.鈥�
Pollen could look past the popular thing of the moment and see what was good for the long term. Victoria still benefits from that vision and leadership.
