BO MAR, Colo. Bow Mar is moving ahead with a plan to gate off public roads. But the affluent town's efforts to keep non-residents out began more than half a century ago.This week, the towns board of trustees approved the gates that will be installed at two of its main entrances S. Sheridan Boulevard and W. Belleview Avenue and that will only be open to its roughly 850 residents.Bow Mar town officials claim the gates are needed to reduce traffic cutting through the town, which they say is causing safety concerns. Its an argument the town has relied on in the past to justify similar measures. Watch how history has repeated in Bow Mar in the player below: History repeats: Bow Mar revives effort to keep nonresidents off town streetsIn a February 1973 Rocky Mountain News article, the town of Bow Mar was facing scrutiny from surrounding communities, namely Littleton, for erecting a barricade that closed off Cimarron Street.In the article, the then Bow Mar mayor claimed the make-shift barricade, which was a telephone pole laid across the road, was needed to address traffic and childsafety concerns.However, the article reported that some Littleton residents believed that Bow Mar was trying to keep outsiders out of the affluent enclave.Tiny Bow Mar, a fashionable community, has had several squabbles with its neighbors since it was incorporated in 1958, the newspaper reported.A former Littleton councilman told the newspaper that the barricade was forcing about 150 homeowners to detour around it and that it was trivial nonsense that was harming relations between the two towns.Despite the anger and pushback, the Bow Mar mayor told Littleton town officials that the barricade would stay and promised to replace the telephone pole with a more visually appealing, landscaped versionwhich remains in place today. Can Bow Mar legally gate a public road?The answer is not so clear.Bow Mar isn't the first community in the Denver metro area to try this.Foxfield, which has about 800 residents at the southeast corner of E. Arapahoe Road and S. Parker Road, installed two gates a few years ago and reported "major reductions in non-resident traffic," according to the design group.However, the Foxfield gates are only operational during the morning and evening rush hours and remain open to the public at all other times.In the 1973 Rocky Mountain News article, an Arapahoe County attorney told the newspaper that Bow Mar appeared to be within its legal rights.The attorney said incorporated cities have broad authority over their own roads if they deem restrictions necessary for public safety.A timeline as to when the gates will be installed has not been released. ...read more read less