Help with non-comforming use commercial daycare, Charlotte NC

[Terri Pour-Rastegar]

Hello all.  I have purchased a building in a residential neighborhood (R-5) in Charlotte NC, that was run as a commercial childcare facility for nearly a decade.  Then those folks lost the property to foreclosure.  Zoning is telling me the property has lost it's valuable non-conforming use status as a commercial childcare center because the property has not been used as such for more than 12 months.  I think this is BS--it was not used because it was in foreclosure!  

I could use any help/advice in how to try and get the nice folks down at the city offices to reinstate the commercial childcare status. I want to rent this place out, and I don't need to tell you how much more I can ask in rent if it's allowed as a commercial childcare facility, versus a home childcare facility or, even worse, a SFH or duplex (all of those uses are allowed). To convert it back to anything but it's previous commercial use would require me to restructure at least 30% of the interior, as there are no legal bedrooms as it currently sits.

Thanks in advance.  :)