John D. Criste
Mr. Criste has more than 35 years experience in land use, urban and regional planning, environmental assessment and impact analysis, land use feasibility and market analysis, and energy development management and regulation. He has worked in the Southern California region since 1979 and has extensive experience in public policy planning regarding land use and environmental issues on local, state and federal levels. His experience covers all aspects of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and public documents required by same. He is a frequent CEQA instructor for the Association of Environmental Professionals and the American Planning Association.
Mr. Criste has played a central role in the SCAG/Rancho Cucamonga Foothill Boulevard BRT Corridor Plan; the College Park Specific Plan and EIR leveraging a 120-acre community college campus within a 510-acre mixed-use planning area; the Panorama Specific Plan and EIR; and the Cathedral City Downtown/Highway 111 Specific Plan and EIR. Mr. Criste was the project manager for the California State University-San Bernardino Palm Desert Campus Master Plan EIR and the Palm Desert General Plan and University Park Master Plan and EIR. He also was Terra Nova project manager for the BLM California Desert Conservation Area Plan and associated NEPA EIS, and other BLM projects.
His experience also includes management of the Ritz-Carlton and Mirada EIRs in Rancho Mirage, the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan EIR/EIS, and the Stone Eagle EIR. His experience includes traffic and environmental analysis for Caltrans roadway and bridge projects, permitting through California Department of Fish and Game, US Army Corps of Engineers, and US Fish and Wildlife Service.
As an Associate Planner for Riverside County in the early 1980s, Mr. Criste’s responsibilities included such projects as the San Gorgonio Wind Resource Study team (EIR/EIS#158), and the processing of the first windpark development permits in the San Gorgonio Pass. He was project planner for the 2,000-acre Tesoro Resort Development Specific Plan, and also served as County Representative to the CVAG Technical Planning Committee.
Prior to coming to California in early 1979, Mr. Criste was an energy programs manager on the Pennsylvania Governor's Energy Council and also served as administrative liaison between the Pennsylvania Governor's Office and the Department of Environmental Resources. In that capacity, he served as Co-Chairman of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Energy Curriculum Task Force and contributed to the development of a secondary education curriculum on energy and the environment. Mr. Criste has served as an expert witness in land use and environmental planning litigation in state and federal courts, and regularly provides consulting services to land use and environmental attorneys.
Mr. Criste holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Architectural History from Pennsylvania State University. He has been certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP, #6672). He is also a member of the American Planning Association (APA), the Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP), and is a Member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.
