Longtime Boulder rancher Lynn Shanahan exited Boulder City Council chambers Tuesday holding back tears.

Selling his land south of the city had been in the cards for more than a decade, but it was still difficult when the time came.

Council on Tuesday finalized an $8 million Open Space and Mountain Parks purchase of the 179-acre Shanahan Ranch property just south of city limits west of Colo. 93.

“I should be happy, but I’m not,” Lynn Shanahan said, explaining his siblings have wanted to sell.

With Council’s final approval of the deal, the city gained a parcel officials have targeted since the first open space acquisition plan was drafted in 1967.

It will be leased back to the owners, Shanahan and his wife, Sandra, for the next five years. The city plans to keep the property in agricultural use perpetually. Lynn Shanahan is the great-great-grandson of the man who homesteaded the ranch in 1863.

“I want to thank the Shanahan family for making this available to the community,” Mayor Pro Tem Bob Yates said.

While the city was able to purchase water rights associated with the land, it was only able to acquire the mineral rights, which allow drilling for materials like oil and gas, for the western half of the property. The oil and gas rights for the eastern half of land are owned by the Colorado State Land Board, and while the city was able to verify there are no current leases to drilling operators, the agency is generally resistant to giving up its underground property, according to Boulder Open Space property agent Luke McKay.

“Past conversations haven’t been successful to acquire those rights,” McKay said.

Bethany Collins, Open Space real estate services supervisor, said the geology and economics of the oil and gas likely available on the property make it unlikely to be pursued by drillers with current technology.