BRMC: Broadlands Regional Medical Center, a 164-bed hospital proposed for the Broadlands neighborhood, currently involved in court cases with the county and Inova Loudoun Hospital.
Campaign for Loudoun's Future: Organization that formed to promote slow growth in the county; very involved in the proposed changes to the Rural Policy Area.
CDAs: Community Development Authority. Allows the county to create a special tax district to pay for infrastructure improvements. Dulles Town Center was built using a CDA. They have only been used on commercial property in the past.
Citizens for Property Rights: Ideological opposite of Campaign for Loudoun's Future; supports development and landowners' rights.
Comprehensive Plan, Revised: approved July 23, 2001; intended to serve as a guide for development of the county over the next 20 years.
CPAM: Comprehensive Plan amendment; a policy change requested by developers generally to allow higher density building. The county also initiates CPAMs when it wants to add to or alter Loudoun's comprehensive plan.
Dulles Greenway: Region's only 65-mph freeway; runs between Leesburg and Dulles Airport; toll at the main toll booth is $3.20 during the weekdays and $3.00 on the weekend.
Dulles South: Area along the southeastern part of the county, generally stretching from Chantilly to Arcola north and south of Route 50; currently the site of several CPAMs and new development.
Dulles Toll Road: Eight-lane limited access highway that runs from Dulles Airport into Fairfax County. Connects to the Dulles Greenway after Route 28.
George Mason University: Northern Virginia four-year college currently planning a new campus in Loudoun; proposed site is in Dulles South.
Greenvest: Developer that has proposed four new developments in Dulles South, one of which includes the new GMU campus.
Inova Health Systems: Northern Virginia-health based system; merge with Loudoun Hospital in 2005; currently planning new facilities throughout the county and broke ground on a new medical facility in Dulles South.
LHI: Loudoun Healthcare Inc. Owns 155-bed Loudoun Hospital Center in Lansdowne and outpatient facility on Cornwall Street in Leesburg. Now a subsidiary of Inova Health Systems.
Metro to Loudoun: Not going to happen any time soon. The project will not bring rail from Falls Church to Reston until 2011, but the cost estimate has already nearly doubled to $2.4 billion — and that's phase one. Phase two will bring rail to Route 772 in Loudoun — that's Ryan Road, which turns into Ashburn Village Boulevard — by 2015, "subject to available funding."
Phil Bolen Park: Underfunded, unfinished 460-acre park southeast of Leesburg. Earliest completion date for ball parks is 2007.
Proffers: Monetary and infrastructure donations given by developers in exchange for higher density building rights; most proffers involve money for schools, roads and public safety. Cost of proffers is added onto each home price.
Route 15: The symbolic barrier between suburban eastern Loudoun and rural western Loudoun.
Route 50: Heavily traveled four-lane highway that takes Loudouners to Fairfax County to work every day. There are several CPAMs currently in consideration along the highway.
Route 50 Task Force: Group of developers and residents created by the Board of Supervisors in 2004 to give input and recommendations on key issues facing the Route 50 corridor; recommendations being considered with the area's CPAMs.
Route 50/Arcola: Proposed CPAM along Route 50 to the town of Arcola; recommendations of the Route 50 Task Force were for this area; CPAM is currently before the Board of Supervisors; the Planning Commission recommended the Board of Supervisors approve the CPAM with no residential development near Dulles Airport.
Route 7 Bond Package: The Board of Supervisors is considering seven projects to improve traffic throughout the county. The package includes general road improvements as well as three interchanges and is intended for a November 2006 referendum.
Rezoning: Another method of requesting higher density; sometimes stands alone, other times follows a CPAM.
Rural Policy Area: Western portion of the county, made up of 227,904 acres, about 67 percent of the county's land. The area is being considered for a downzoning that would allow for one dwelling unit per 10 or 20 acres through the area. The area is currently zoned to allow one home per three acres. Downzoning approved by the previous Board of Supervisors was overturned by the state's Supreme Court in March 2005. the current board is expected to make a decision on the zoning in the next few months.
Supervisors: Officials in charge here. Eastern Loudoun supervisors are: Bruce Tulloch (R-Potomac), Mick Staton (R-Sugarland Run), Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling), Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) and Stephen Snow (R-Dulles). Chairman Scott York (I-At Large) is a Sterling resident.
Sycolin Road, Braddock Road: Two heavily traveled gravel roads in eastern Loudoun just a couple football fields' length from major thoroughfares.
Toll Brothers, Winchester Homes, Van Metre, Washington Homes, Lansdowne Community Development: Other developers currently involved with the continued development of the county.
Transition Policy Area: Area east of the Rural Policy Area and west of Arcola; a CPAM for the area is currently being discussed by the Planning Commission following several development applications for the area.
Upper Foley/Upper Broad Run: Subareas within the Transition Policy Area
Western Bypass: Long-wrangled-over highway proposed to cut through Loudoun County and connect to Maryland. Currently in bureaucratic doldrums; maybe be resurrected in the future.
Suzannah Evans contributed to this report.