(a) No local Act granting a municipal charter shall be enacted wherein any part of the proposed corporate boundary is less than three miles distance from the corporate boundary of any existing municipal corporation in this state; provided, however, that, if the residents of a certain geographical area within three miles of an existing municipal corporation have been denied annexation to the municipal corporation by the people of the municipal corporation, the residents of such geographical area shall be entitled to incorporate a new municipal corporation at any time within 12 months after such denial, and a local Act granting a municipal charter may be enacted; provided, further, that the population of the area proposed to be incorporated must exceed the population of the existing municipal corporation, and a certificate from the governing authority of the existing municipal corporation or from the judge of the superior court of the county, evidencing the denial of annexation and the population figures, must accompany the certificate of incorporation required by this chapter.

(b) Any provision of subsection (a) of this Code section to the contrary, a local Act granting a municipal charter to any area comprising the former boundaries of a municipal corporation the charter of which was repealed by operation of Code Section 36-30-7.1 may be enacted at the regular 1996 or 1997 session of the General Assembly without regard to the proximity of the proposed municipal corporation to an existing municipal corporation.