In addition to any authority which is now or may hereafter be granted by the General Statutes to the town for making sidewalk improvements, the board of commissioners is hereby authorized to order to be made or to make sidewalk improvements or repairs without petition according to standards and specifications of the town, and to assess the total cost thereof against the abutting property owners.
If a sidewalk is constructed on only one side of the street and in a residential zone the cost thereof may be assessed against the abutting property.