By TERENCE CHEA, Associated Press Writer
Mon Jul 17, 8:12 PM ET

Did someone in this wine country town illegally plant an endangered flower to sabotage a proposed housing development? That is the question at the center of a quarrel folks here have dubbed “Foamgate.”

Bob Evans, a 72-year-old retired elementary school principal, says he was walking with his dog last year when he came upon the tiny white flowers of Sebastopol meadowfoam poking from shallow pools of water in a grassy field.

The former bean farm happens to be the site chosen for the 20-acre Laguna Vista housing development.

Evans and other opponents seized on the discovery of the federally protected species in hopes it would force the developer to scale back plans for 145 houses and apartments. “It was the bad luck of the developer that it popped up,” Evans said.

But state wildlife officials investigated and concluded that the meadowfoam had been transplanted there. They ordered it dug up.

This year, the flowers returned, and with them the controversy. The dispute has held up final approval of the building project.

Sebastopol, a well-to-do community of about 8,000 people 50 miles north of San Francisco, is known for its environmentally conscious residents and restrictive growth policies.

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