WATCH: Some of the most expensive Vancouver areas designated ‘flood plains’: city report

Will global warming turn a good part of Vancouver’s waterfront into a flood plain?

The city’s staff is apparently already planning for that possibility.

A new report to city council recommends Vancouver change its bylaws to raise flood construction levels in a number of low-lying areas.

They include False Creek, Granville Island, part of Kitsilano Beach and much of south Vancouver along the Fraser River.

City planners say construction levels should be raised by one meter.

Builders say that would make developments more costly in an already expensive market, increasing insurance rates and cost of construction.

But Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson calls the move “prudent,” saying city council has voiced strong support for climate adaptation.