CITY GETS A TOW-HOLD ON ILLEGALLY PARKED CARS.

Byline: Andrea Cavanaugh and Lisa Mascaro Staff Writers

The sight of traffic officer Monique Serrato pulling up behind a group of illegally parked cars in Van Nuys Monday afternoon sent drivers scurrying out of nearby businesses, eager to avoid the tow truck that waited nearby.

Monday marked the launch of a stepped-up enforcement program targeting no-parking zones on major thoroughfares - part of Mayor James Hahn's plan, announced earlier this year, to relieve traffic on city streets.

One driver who avoided being towed from Victory Boulevard drove away angrily, clutching a parking ticket and spewing obscenities.

``You do get angry people, that's for sure,'' Serrato said. ``That's their car. Cars are a very big deal here.''

The project rolled out in the Valley and Hollywood and was in full force during Monday night's rush hour. Traffic officials were not scheduled to have the official tally of the number of vehicles cited and towed until today. Serrato tucked a ticket under the windshield of a pickup truck before a tow-truck driver hauled it away - the owner destined to pay more than $230 in fines and fees before retrieving the vehicle. The entire operation took about five minutes.

``This blocks traffic, too,'' Serrato said. ``We have to be fast, so our purpose being out here is fulfilled.''

Serrato was one of an estimated 30 enforcement officers deployed during rush hour Monday afternoon across the San Fernando Valley.

``This is probably the cheapest and quickest part of that plan - to immediately saturate the peak-hour lanes with officers and tow trucks,'' said Jimmy Price, chief of Parking Enforcement and Traffic Control Services for the city's Department of Transportation.

``We're hoping that, during the peak-hour rush period, you'll find the street clear of any vehicle, and it'll make your trip quicker.''

Hahn's plan targets 35 major arteries across the city where signs are posted prohibiting parking during morning and evening rush hour.

The department typically gives out about 190,000 citations a year, but tows only about 60 cars a day.

``It's quite a large problem,'' Price said. ``A more focused approach would be to remove the vehicles from the city streets.''

Price said the clampdown should be in full force for at least 90 days. But his crews are poised to keep on it ``as long as it takes.''

``We're going to stay with this until we get it under control,'' he said.

For most drivers, just the sight of Serrato's white compact car is enough to get them going.

``Once they see you, they move,'' Serrato said. ``I could be at lunch, and people would come out and move their cars.''

Andrea Cavanaugh, [phone]

andrea.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

NO PARKING

In a crackdown launched Monday, the city will tow vehicles parked during rush hour along 35 Los Angeles thoroughfares, including Devonshire Street, San Fernando Road and Balboa, Roscoe, Ventura, Victory and Topanga Canyon boulevards. Parking along Sepulveda Boulevard south of Ventura also is prohibited.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Gus Gloria, a tow-truck operator for Keystone Towing, hooks up an illegally parked car on Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys Monday.

(2 -- color) Monique Serrato, a city traffic officer, tucks a parking citation beneath the windshield wiper of a soon-to-be-towed car on Victory Boulevard on Monday.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

(3 -- color) no caption (Tow-Away sign)

Box:

NO PARKING (see text)