"Growing Durham is seriously off the rails. All it is is the same old urban boundary expansion being pushed by the development industry. It's sprawl in Durham," said Ajax Mayor Steve Parish during a meeting of council's general government committee.

The Growing Durham Study outlines how the Region will adhere to the provincial Growth Plan.

Among the recommendations in the Durham study are 4,343 new residential units in the Town's urban area. A report prepared by Town planner Kevin Heritage noted that's about 2,000 more than possible.

When asked what would happen if the Town didn't meet the allocation, Mr. Heritage said, "We haven't seen the actual policies."

"The threat to our employment lands is very real. The real thrust should be on opening up new industrial lands," Mayor Parish said, adding developers would be "rewarded in the process. It will jeopardize jobs in Ajax."

Another concern with the 4,343 units is the sanitary sewer system couldn't handle that many new homes without upgrades that "may not be financial viable," Mr. Heritage wrote.

In his report, Mr. Heritage pointed out the 'Infrastructure and Financial Analysis' for the Region's growth study won't be done for 18-to-24 months.

"If you are on the board of a company and someone said this is the way to go and to not have any fiscal analysis, you would tell them to go away and do the job right," Mayor Parish said.

"The implications for Ajax are beyond the numbers," the mayor said. "Where they would find 4,343 units is totally unsubstantiated by the facts. A lot of this scenario is just not real. I have a lot of difficulty with this."

Previous comments made by Ajax and Toronto and Region Conservation have been ignored, he said.

"We're in for a ride on this one," Mayor Parish said.

The Regional planning committee is expected to approve Durham's position on Nov. 25 and then send it to the Province.