Bill Levitt has been a fixture of Alta politics for the past 34 years.

Actually, he has been the sum total of Alta politics for the past 34 years.

Levitt will not seek re-election this fall for mayor, a position he has held in one title or another since 1971. In declining to seek an office that he defined, the 88-year-old sage will step to the shadows and hopes to gain a little extra time for skiing and his great-granddaughter.

Levitt has defined his administrations by stringently resisting development pressures in Albion Basin, the watershed valley at the top of Alta that is home to dozens of wildflower species in the summer and powder hounds in the winter. Private land owners have wanted at various times to cash in their land for condominiums and trophy homes, but Levitt has remained stalwart about keeping Alta as close to the way he found it when he moved there in 1956.

"Don't think we haven't developed," Levitt said from his second home in Moab. "Our objective has been to see that we have proper development within the community but that Albion basin has to be kept as it was with as little development as could possibly be tolerated."

The message of careful development resonated with Tom Pollard, who will almost certainly succeed Levitt as Alta mayor this year. Pollard is running unopposed for the office.

"Bill's point is keeping Alta the way Alta is and always has been," Pollard said. "For me, it's a great honor that he has the faith that I could take over for him and leave Alta in good hands."

Levitt, who fell in love with Alta during a ski vacation in the 1950s, believes that Little Cottonwood Canyon makes Salt Lake Valley a better place to live.

"We consider Alta and Snowbird as the critical areas for the valley," Levitt said. "If you didn't have Little Cottonwood Canyon, nobody would want to live in Salt Lake Valley."

Besides the skiing (and only skiing — snowboarding is not permitted at Alta resort), Alta is known for its salty mining history and beautiful but brief summers. Of the countless skiers who have passed through its valleys and chutes, a lucky 400 now call it home, and the vast majority of those know Levitt's presence as a benevolent mayor and caretaker.

"I don't think it's really sunk in yet that he's not running," said Kate Black, who has worked for the town since 1977. "He's been the most incredible resource for this community. I couldn't imagine working for a better boss."

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E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com