City to protect waterfront homes from rising seas

The City of Charlottetown is taking steps to protect waterfront properties from the effects of climate change.

The city's planning committee is making changes to waterfront bylaws to ensure residents on ground floors will not be flooded in the event of extreme weather caused by rising sea levels, said chair Rob Lantz.

The city has consulted with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and has maps on areas in Charlottetown that are most susceptible to flooding.

"We've established brand new minimum finished floor levels," said Lantz.

"We want to make sure that people living in a waterfront area are above a minimum level because they are at risk. We used the highest-ever recorded tidal surge in Charlottetown, adjusted that for high tide, and then added the expected sea level rises onto that. This is very, very scientifically proven data."

The city is also looking at reinforcing seawalls along the waterfront.