A citywide movement in Los Angeles to build tiny houses on wheels for the homeless rolled into San Pedro this month, sparking an uproar among critics who charge that the wooden “shacks” are not only eyesores but will quickly become a haven for crime.

Los Angeles Councilmen Joe Buscaino and Mitch Englander asked the city attorney to report on the legality of placing the shedlike structures on public rights-of-way and private property and to “recommend removal protocol for city departments to follow.”

The motion will be taken up by the Public Works and Gang Reduction Committee and the Homelessness and Poverty Committee.

Whether the houses ultimately are ruled legal or not, their current location on a city street at Eighth near Palos Verdes streets in San Pedro may be short-lived. Many of tiny houses also have been placed along Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles.

“These wooden shacks ultimately will present public safety and public health nightmares,” Buscaino said in a telephone interview. “I don’t want these popping up all over the city.

“I wanted those (new structures) removed yesterday.”

During a community meeting Tuesday night, Sgt. Catherine Plows of LAPD Harbor Division told members of the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council that the homes cannot be placed on public property unless permission has been given. As such, they need to be moved by the city’s Bureau of Sanitation.

Earlier in the meeting, the council unanimously approved moving forward with the tiny house project that was initially put forward by its homeless committee — but agreed that a different location needs to be found.

But exactly where remains a challenge.

More than a dozen speakers weighed in before the neighborhood council vote, expressing divided views on the project.

“I say shame on our community for this situation getting to this point,” said Laurie Jacobs, a member of the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council. “These are people who need help. … This is a very complex issue.”

Supporters argue that the tiny houses, while not a permanent solution, offer L.A. street people the dignity, physical safety and privacy that comes with shelter from the elements. Several also commended the effort to do something — even if the approach needs more work.

A South Los Angeles man, Elvis Summers, has collected nearly $85,000 in a Go Fund Me online fundraising campaign to build the homes, which are rudimentary but do offer doors and sliding windows.

Summers, who attended the evening meeting, said the homes can be built for less than $500 each. The San Pedro homes were built on private donations, supporters said.

“There’s no reason anybody should be homeless,” Summers said in his public remarks. “These are human beings, they’ve got real feelings, they are people who need help.”

Critics suggested that while the tiny house project is well-intentioned, it does not take into account the well-being of the rest of the community.

“I know your heart’s in the right place but those homes have got to go,” said Wendy Harris of San Pedro.

San Pedro restaurant owner Mona Sutton was among many who said the homes are in the wrong place.

“I’m not anti-homeless,” she told the neighborhood council. “I’m a humanist, I’m a progressive, and I’m a realist. … Having the tiny houses in the middle of our unrevitalized business district is very negative and I don’t think it’s a positive for the homeless either.”

The Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council’s Homelessness Committee and a group called Helping the Homeless in Need San Pedro joined forces to launch the tiny home project, although funding came from private donors only.

The three doghouse-style structures were placed just east of Palos Verdes Street, where a homeless encampment on the sidewalk was moved a few months ago.

Buscaino’s office continues to post 72-hour clear-out notices wherever homeless encampments appear, he said, but he will urge the city to tighten that law to a mandatory 24-hour notice.

Unreported crime — including drug use and sales, domestic violence and public urination — appears to be a growing problem among the homeless encampments, Buscaino said.

“Every time we come in and clean we are encountered by drug paraphernalia, urine and feces,” Buscaino said.

Those who build and support the tiny homes, he said, “are well-intentioned. … (but) we need to ask San Pedro residents how they would feel having one of these wooden shacks in front of their home.”

The rudimentary homes, Buscaino said in a written statement, are not a solution to the “homeless epidemic” in Los Angeles.

“Instead, we need more permanent supportive housing, which is a proven, effective means of reintegrating chronically homeless individuals and families.”

Buscaino and other city officials are on record in support of what’s been called the “housing first” approach used with some success in other states, including Salt Lake City, Utah. But such program are long-term, and still leave immediate problems for communities where the homeless sleep in public parks and on public sidewalks.

“We’ve had numerous calls from stakeholders and residents demanding that the (business improvement district) do something but we don’t have the authority to manage things like that,” said Stephen Robbins, executive director of the district that collects assessments to upgrade the downtown and waterfront areas. The tiny homes are within the district boundaries.

Not only do they create a visual blight, he said, but “there’s a concern these houses might encourage illegal activities to take place.”