In a move that arguably should have happened years ago, the Cheyenne City Council on Monday night approved buying out roundabout neighbor Mary Rose Ramirez.

Ramirez, whose property is located at 2247 E. 19th Street, essentially lost access to her home when the Pershing Boulevard/Converse Avenue/19th Street roundabout was put in.

"One of the biggest things was being in a construction zone for two years," said Ramirez. "I run a home-based business. I couldn't have clients come to my home and so I lost business."

"They've designed her into a literal box that she cannot get out of physically or financially," said Councilman Rocky Case.

"This is also about safety," added Case. "It's inevitable that somebody at some point is going to be entering or backing out of that driveway and get crunched."

After discussing the matter for nearly an hour, the council finally settled on giving Ramirez $185,000 for the property. They also agreed to cover up to $15,000 in relocation costs and attorney's fees.

"Whenever you get into a project like this there are unintended consequences and you can't really anticipate all of them, but it's very evident that the unintended consequence here needs to be righted," said Case.

Richard Johnson was the lone councilman to vote against the agreement, saying he believed the issue "should have been handled through the courts."

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