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Between streets, there are sometimes special paths for pedestrians. These walkways are approximately 1.2 meters wide. Since the streets are on hills or slopes, each street is higher than the one that run parallel to it. This creates a situation where the upper floor of a building touches the ground of the pathway. The residents of the upper floors take advantage of this fact and open an entrance from their apartment to the public walkway. However, usually, the upper-floor apartment is slightly higher than the pathway. Therefore, it is necessary to construct stairs to compensate for the height difference at the expense of the width of the pathway. And thus, they make the pathway narrower at this particular point. The question is whether it is permissible to build these stairs.

Dear …!
This matter depends on various considerations, such as who owns the pathway and the location, whether there is any harm to those who walk on this pathway, or if it is a trivial matter, and only following the customs of Sodom would prevent its construction, and whether there is a local custom, among other factors. Therefore, it is not possible to provide a definitive answer on the website without examining the specific place.

Nevertheless, before proceeding, it is certainly advisable to consult with a knowledgeable rabbinical authority, familiar both with Choshen Mishpat section of the Shulchan Oruch and with local customs, who can visit the site and determine that there is no prohibition due to a “path that was established by the public” (see Bava Kamma 28a).

Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Pishpat 417:2); Remo (Choshen Pishpat 377:1).