Green Areas Advisory Committee

When the village was incorporated in 1941, community leaders sought to preserve the rural quality. The Village charter states: “It is the purpose and intent of the people of Indian Hill that the character and uses of the area within the Village may not be changed, and it shall continue to be a rural neighborhood.” At that time, former Village solicitor Paul Steer and former Mayor Stanley Rowe initiated a program to acquire property for permanent preservation. The first green area concept was envisioned as a ring of green surrounding the “hill” from which the Village derived its name.

Julius Fleischmann made the first gift of land to the Village in 1946. That gift consisted of 38 acres. Over the next few years, the green belt concept evolved into a vision of green areas. In order to formalize the commitment to conservation, a Forest Preserve and Greenbelt Areas Committee was established in 1954. In 1962 former Mayor Robert Black appointed a committee to administer the lands and renamed the group the Green Areas Advisory Committee. His wife Helen C. Black worked diligently persuading residents to donate parcels to the Green Areas for many years.