Update: A hotfix deployed during Monday's downtime removed the system cap from all solar systems except Jita, which now has a player capacity of 1024. CCP Explorer stated that the capacity will be raised over time as they make server adjustments. Ultimately they hope to remove the population limit altogether.
Jita is a trading hub in EVE Online, where most people do their business, no wonder that it is also called "Lag Vegas" due to immense lag that prevails in this space system.
Even though the solution doesn't seem slick - I do realize it was indeed necessary.