Burlington Board of Health Clears New Fox Hill Elementary School, Biotech Permits

BURLINGTON — May 13, 2025 — Burlington Board of Health clears new Fox Hill Elementary School site permit and biotech safety license in busy spring meeting. The board voted unanimously May 13 to approve a site plan and special permit for the 91,000-square-foot Fox Hill Elementary School at 252 Fox Hill Road, designed by Danisco Design, with construction targeted to begin within a year and student occupancy planned for early 2028. Architects Vivian Lowe and Neil Harrigan described a two-phase build that keeps the existing 1967 school operational throughout construction; the board tightened a fill-material condition to require soil source documentation and laboratory testing results on file before any imported fill arrives on site. The board also granted a biological safety permit to cell therapy manufacturer Vericel Corporation at 25 Blue Sky Drive — praised by Chair Gail DeMori as "one of the best" submissions she had reviewed — contingent on the company posting an emergency call-down list including the Board of Health on each floor of its 125,000-square-foot facility. Environmental Engineer Christine Mathis noted that both the town of Stoneham and the town of Bedford are now modeling aspects of Burlington's biological safety regulations.