BALTIMORE COUNTY. 777

extension due west from the present terminus of Wilkens Avenue; thence
easterly along said extension and along the north side of Wilkens Avenue
to the intersection of said north side of Wilkens Avenue with the westerly
boundary of Baltimore City; thence northerly along said westerly bound-
ary of Baltimore City to the place of beginning; in any case where no
petition has been filed by property owners for the erection of a sidewalk
as provided for in Sections 679, 680, 681 and 682, when in their judg-
ment the public safety or convenience requires. In such case where the
Commissioners to initiate such proceedings, they shall proceed to erect
such improved sidewalk, after giving ten days' notice, in writing by reg-
istered letter to the property owners affected, granting them a hearing,
if they so request, and at the expiration of said ten days, if no hearing is
requested, or if after hearing the objections thereto are overruled; pro-
vided, however, that there shall be an appeal to the Circuit Court for Bal-
timore County, within 10 days, from any decision of the Commissioners
after hearing said objections. The material, thickness, width and grade
of such sidewalk to be specified by the Roads Engineer of Baltimore
County, and the Commissioners shall charge the cost of the same as a lien
on the property fronting or binding on either or both sides of the street,
avenue or road, as may seem to them reasonable and proper within the
metes and bounds specified in said notice, and the cost of the work shall
be collected as taxes are now collected. This section shall not prevent
property owners from petitioning for sidewalks as provided in the preced-
ing sections, when they desire so to do.

1916, ch. 418. B. Co. C. (1916), sec. 569. 1928, sec. 684.

684. The thoroughfare in the Thirteenth Election District of Balti-
more County leading southerly from Rolling Road beside the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad to Viaduct Avenue at Relay be and the same is hereby
made and declared to be a public highway and county road, and as such
shall hereafter be maintained by the Highways Commission of Baltimore
County and their successors, who are hereby authorized to ascertain and
define the present width of said road and to widen the same to thirty feet
or more, in their discretion, by purchase or condemnation of the abutting
property.

1916, ch. 501. B. Co. C. (1916), sec. 570. 1928, sec. 685.

685. The County Commissioners of Baltimore County are authorized
to accept the dedication of Gwynn Oak Avenue in Baltimore County, or
any part thereof, from the owners thereof, and in consideration of the
surrender of its risrhts therein to grant to the United Railways and Elec-
tric Company of Baltimore, a corporation, immediately and without ad-
vertisement, a perpetual franchise for the construction, operation and
maintenance of a single or double-track railway occupying not more than
28 feet of said road over the portion thereof so dedicated and accepted
as a public high way; the said franchise and rights so acquired from said
County Commissioners to be subject to no other or further public obliga