SAN DIEGO -- The Lemon Grove City Council voted unanimously to adopt a policy that makes homeowners responsible for the maintenance and repair of sewer lines connecting homes to city sewer mains.

The policy was adopted after a complaint was brought to the council alleging that the city was responsible for a private homeowner's sewage connection problem, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported today.

When Miriam Morales discovered an obstruction in the pipe that connected her house to the street sewer line, she asked Lemon Grove to fix the problem because the cause of the obstruction was on city land, the newspaper reported.

City officials denied the request on grounds that the line serves only Morales' home.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously to make property owners responsible for the maintenance and repair of the pipe that leads from the home to the main sewer line.

"Our past practice has been we don't fix them," Lemon Grove Mayor Mary Sessom told the paper. "This puts it into policy."

City officials told the newspaper that the council's decision makes lawful a practice that has been in effect for several years.

"It's just unbelievable how in all these years they didn't think about it," Morales told the newspaper. "Then in two to three weeks, they come out with a policy. They are being courteously rude about it."

The city argues that the policy is necessary because it can't afford the cost of repairs for homeowner sewer connections.