A sign from a condominium development warns people off a section of the Charlottetown waterfront. (CBC)

A meeting of urban planners and Charlottetown residents found itself trespassing on private property Tuesday night as waterfront development was discussed.

The city is putting together a new plan for the waterfront, and urban planners are promising not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

At Tuesday's meeting, the planners joined city residents for a walk along the shoreline to get the lay of the land. As they walked along the boardwalk they came across a condo with a sign out front that warned pedestrians to stay way.

The walkers ignored the sign, and checked out the condo's waterfront view.

"One of the things we've heard through the process so far is idea of a fully accessible public waterfront," said Rob LeBlanc of Ekistics Planning & Design, which the city has hired to help develop the plan.

"Clearly there's areas of private space that we're going to need to find solutions for."

The development plan needs to find a way to make the entire waterfront accessible to the public, says Rob LeBlanc. (CBC)

The city residents on the tour were concerned about recent patterns of development.

"Just seems like most of the development that has gone on, some of it has been very good. Others have been less than appropriate," said John Rankin.

"Seems to be piece meal."

The city is looking to develop a plan that will cover the next 20 years.

The three day planning session is open to the public. The discussion continues Wednesday at Founder's Hall and Thursday evening at MacKinnon's Lobster on the Wharf. The study is due to be complete in December.

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