By Sheila McLaughlin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

INDIAN HILL - Other hills might be alive with the sound of music, but not this one - for now.

Arts patron Louise Nippert's Greenacres Foundation will ask City Council Tuesday to ease what officials say are excessive restrictions on music and the size and number of events at a proposed cultural arts center on the former estate of philanthropist Julius Fleischmann.

Carter Randolph, executive vice-president of the Greenacres Foundation, is silhouetted in an archway by the fountain the formal gardens at the manor house at the Fleischmann estate in Indian Hill. (Glenn Hartong photo)

Otherwise, a $3 million plan to renovate the picturesque 1927 fieldstone mansion on 600 acres bordered by Blome and Spooky Hollow roads and rent it out for small private and non-profit functions would be foiled, foundation officials said.

The property also is home to a working farm that offers 4-H and equestrian classes. An educational center there hosts an area-wide water quality testing program and offers field trips for area school children to learn about conservation, agriculture and horticulture.

Carter Randolph, who runs the foundation, said the city's constraints call into question whether Greenacres - which depends on some private income to fund its non-profit educational activities - can survive in Indian Hill.

"We have a lot to lose," Randolph said, referring to 450 more acres that will be turned over to the foundation upon Nippert's death.

"If the rest of the land is subject to those rulings, we have a serious question about our viability."

He also fears that the city's decision on Greenacres could affect the future of older estates in Indian Hill, such as that of former Reds owner Marge Schott. Heirs would be more apt to sell off the land for development rather than fight restrictions placed on charitable uses, Randolph said.

Greenacres is challenging a decision by the planning commission to allow only two musical events per year that might be heard past the property lines, and to limit the number of outdoor gatherings depending on the size of the group attending.

The mansion would be used to host an artist-in-residence; for fund-raisers and other events that support arts organizations such as Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the May Festival Chorus; for corporate and non-profit meetings; musical education for inner city children and other students; and small wedding receptions.

"Our primary focus would be on cultural arts ... chamber music, chamber opera," Randolph said. About 70 percent of the events would be for non-profit functions because of tax requirements for the foundation, he said. The restrictions do not affect the existing educational activities at Greenacres.

The commission last month set conditions on gatherings at the manor house after a handful of residents on Blome Road voiced concerns about the prospect of increased traffic and noise. Residents who led the opposition did not return calls to the Enquirer. City Manager Mike Burns said the group has consulted a lawyer.

The manor house sits anywhere from 1,200 to 1,900 feet from other homes, Randolph said.

"Frankly, when all was said and done the commission leaned more toward the neighbors' suggested conditions than they did the foundation's," Burns said.

The commission told Greenacres it could hold no more than a dozen outdoor events annually for 125 to 200 guests; no more than four outdoor events for gatherings of 200 to 250 people; and two musical events where music or amplified sound could be heard beyond the property line, and not after midnight. The foundation could hold unlimited gatherings of less than 125 people that did not include music.

C. Francis Barrett, the foundation's attorney, said Greenacres wants to more than double to 26 the number of events for groups of 250 people, and proposes 12 gatherings annually for larger outdoor groups of about 400 people. The foundation would be willing to abide by a reasonable decibel level for music, but not a tight restriction on musical events, he said.

Barrett contends the city is discriminating against Greenacres because the same restrictions are not placed on similar activities at places such as Peterloon.

Assistant city manager David Couch said the non-profit Peterloon Foundation - which rents out the former Emery mansion off Hopewell Road for events - imposed its own restrictions on the sizes of gatherings, which were acceptable to the planning commission. There are no restrictions on amplified sound or music at Peterloon, even though houses have sprung up around the structure and its 70 or so acres.

However, Couch said the city has authority to impose tighter restrictions if complaints or concerns arise, as it did in 1990 when Peterloon was hosting a large garden club gala.

Randolph said Blome Road residents shouldn't feel threatened.

The manor house will hold up to 180 guests, so most events will be small. And, music will be low key, he said.

"It is not conducive to a Rolling Stones concert," Randolph said of the Fleischmann grounds. "I don't think Mrs. Nippert would view that as music."

History of Greenacres

1949: Louis and Louise Nippert buy the circa-1870s Greenacres Farm and several adjacent farms and begin farming organically.

1988: The Nipperts found Greenacres Foundation to preserve the farm and woodlands and to educate others, especially children, in conservation and the appreciation of nature.

1998: Louise Nippert buys the adjoining Winding Creek Farm, the 1927 estate of philanthropist Julius Fleischmann, to preserve it. She turns it over to Greenacres Foundation for preservation and use as a cultural arts center.

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E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com