In Commissioners v. Webb, 148 N. C., 120, a case involving the interpretation of the same sections.of the charter of the town of Hendersonville as the present ease (ch. 97, Private Laws 1901), this Court said: “The term ‘streets’ may, and frequently does, include both sidewalks and driveways, and, while there are many decisions which, under certain facts and conditions, distinguish and separate the two, we are clearly of opinion that in an undertaking of this magnitude, involving an expenditure of $18,000 in paving sidewalks, both the purpose of the law and its correct interpretation require that the term ‘streets’ in this connection should include sidewalks, bringing the proposition within the provisions of section 9 of the charter, requiring that a vote of the people should be taken.” In Hester v. Traction Co., 138 N. C., 288, it is said: “The rights, powers and liability of the municipality extend equally to the sidewalk as to the roadway, for both are parts of the street. Tate v. Greensboro, 114 N. C., 392; 2 Smith Muu. Corp., sec. 1304; Elliott Roads and Streets, sec. 20.”
The petition upon which the election was ordered, the bonds sold and the proceeds received for expenditure, particularly desired the board of commissioners of Hendersonville “to adopt a general scheme of street and- sidewalk improvement for the town.” In adopting such a general scheme in limine, it is assuredly the part of a wise administration to engage the services of a competent, experienced and skillful engineer. It would be unwise and unsightly to have the sidewalks graded to an established grade and then paved with cement, and to leave the driveways or roadways of the streets in their natural condition and with their natural configuration undisturbed. It is left to the sound judgment and discretion of the board of commissioners, aided by the advice of a competent engineer, to determine how much grading any particular street shall receive, and how much its natural configuration shall be varied.
It has been repeatedly held .by this Court, as well as other courts, that such matters are legislative and rest exclusively in the discretion of the governing authorities of the municipalities, and their decisions cannot be interfered with or controlled by the courts. Meares v. Wilmington, 31 N. C., 73, and the numerous cases cited in Anno. Ed. Under sections 5, 6 and 9 of *621tbe town charter, it was permissible to adopt a general scheme of improvements of its streets and sidewalks, as requested in the petition and approved at the election by the voters of the town, and proceed to carry it out. We, therefore, discover no error in the judgment appealed from, and it is
Affirmed.