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.