Wicklow County Council has agreed to cap the county's population at 144,000 until 2016. Councillors have opted to restrict the sale of new houses outside designated growth areas in the region to local people only.
At a meeting on Monday night they heard that 80 per cent of sales in recent housing developments were to non-local commuters. The current population of Wicklow is estimated to be around 113,000.
Among the councillors who objected to the changes were Mr George Jones, representing the Greystones area, who said the proposals were "unworkable".
He suggested that if measures to curb the number of non-locals living in rural parts of Co Wicklow had been introduced five years ago, a substantial number of councillors at the meeting would not be eligible to live in their areas.
"It's a crazy idea and I don't think it's manageable," he said.
Mr Jones said he understood the need to restrict population growth in certain areas, but said the council's policy was "totally restrictive".
However, Wicklow County Council's acting secretary, Mr Liam Fitzpatrick, said his colleagues were anxious to ensure growth took place in an "orderly" way.
He said the measures agreed on Monday night were intended to achieve a balance between population growth and the provision of infrastructure in the region.
"We've got to make sure that infrastructure - water storage, shopping facilities, and so on - develop at the same time," he said.
Mr Fitzpatrick said non-locals were welcome to come and live in Co Wicklow, but pointed out that people whose families had lived in a particular area for generations had a "definable need" for housing in that area.
