When a liquor license can be denied near schools

(a) The liquor commission or agency of each county may deny or restrict the issuance of a liquor license for on-site sale and consumption by the drink to any applicant whose establishment is or would be located within five hundred feet of a public or private elementary, intermediate, or high school, or public playground utilized extensively by minors, as determined by the liquor commission of each county; provided that the liquor commission or agency of each county shall deny the issuance of a liquor license if forty per cent of the: (1) Registered voters for the area within five hundred feet of the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked; or (2) Owners and lessees of record of real estate and owners of record of shares in a cooperative apartment within five hundred feet of the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked; have duly filed or caused to be filed their protests against granting the license. The distance of five hundred feet shall be measured from the boundary of the school or public playground to the boundary of the applicant's premises. Public or private beaches, and public or private day care centers located in or adjacent to commercial areas shall not be deemed schools or public playgrounds for purposes of this section. The provisions of this section shall not apply to establishments located within areas designated by the appropriate counties for resort purposes, or to hotel or condominium hotel liquor license applicants. (b) This section shall apply only to the issuance of new liquor licenses for on-site sale and consumption by the drink and not to any renewal of such licenses.