Duplex lost zoning rights due to extended vacancy

[Pete Bigit]

I saw several duplexes in a smaller town where the listing said “2 family being sold as a single family.” Upon asking the realtor what that was about he said - due to not being zoned as a permanent multi family area, the vacancy of over a year in one of the units nullified the multi family zoning.

Does anybody have any experience with this? He said appeals to the town zoning board almost always get denied. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.