As of the originally announced end, February 11 at 10 PM, of an online poll instigated by City Council member Pat Kernighan, participants had registered overall opposition to a proposal for the Kwik Way on Lake Park Avenue to be replaced by a FatBurger restaurant. (See “Kernighan launches online poll about FatBurger.”)

However, the deadline appeared this morning to have been extended a week. Subsequently, this extension was apparently reversed. At the polling site, the “Kwik Way Location” is now listed as a “Closed Issue,” and “The Decision” is “under review, February 11, 2007.”

A total of 390 self-identified Oakland voters weighed in on the question “Should a Fatburger Restaurant open in the Kwik Way building on Lake Park Avenue?” (See “Hahns try again to replace Kwik Way with major hamburger chain.”)

Of those, 189 (48.5%) registered their opposition to the proposal by voting “No,” while 163 (41.8%) supported the FatBurger proposal by voting “Yes.” Three voters (0.8%) chose “Neutral” and 35 (9%) chose “Maybe.”

Of those votes that were either “Yes” or “No,” the “No”s outnumbered the “Yes”s by 53.7 percent to 46.3 percent.

Nearer residents opposed FatBurger more strongly than overall

The polling results were also broken down between those who reported addresses within one-half mile of the Kwik Way (at 550 Lake Park Avenue [map]) and those whose reported addresses were farther away.

The nearer neighbors (i.e., within a half mile of the site) voted strongly in opposition to the proposal. Of the 117 votes from these nearby residents, 67 (57.3%) voted “No” and 38 (32.5%) voted “Yes.” Two (1.7%) were “Neutral” and 10 (8.5%) voted “Maybe.”

Of those nearer residents who voted either “Yes” or “No,” the “No”s won by 63.8 percent to 36.2 percent.

The 273 votes cast by residents further away than one-half mile slightly favored FatBurger, by 125 (45.8%) votes for “Yes,” compared to 122 (44.7%) votes for “No.”

The one-half-mile radius was the only geographic boundary by which the polling results were broken down.

Farther-flung voters joined the polling after Chip Johnson’s Chronicle column

The poll was launched on the evening of Monday, February 5 and was announced to conclude at 10 PM on Sunday, February 11. Its launch was publicized to recipients of the February edition of Council member Kernighan’s emailed newsletter sent out Monday evening and by “Kernighan launches online poll about FatBurger” in the Grand Lake Guardian.

Until Friday morning, the overall results showed the “No”s beating the “Yes”s by almost a 2-to-1 margin. On Friday morning, a column, “Fatburger a hard sell in Grand Lake,” by its East Bay columnist Chip Johnson appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. Following publication of that column, the mix of new votes became more nearly evenly balanced between “Yes” and “No” as well as more tilted toward residents living further than one-half-mile away.