Breaker in Bathroom -grandfathered in????

[Carrie Giordano]

I recently bought a foreclosure in Northeast Ohio that had a bathroom in the basement. It had a shower, sink, toilet and electrical  sub-panel, however no 4th wall or door. 

I applied for a permit to add a wall but am now being told I must must the subpanel out of the bathroom before they will consider the permit. Several people including my electrician have told me to really fight this because it should be grandfathered in since the house was in this condition when I bought it. 

Does anyone have experience with this? 

Currently, I'm writing a deal diary ( https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/522/topics/25... ) on my experience but am stuck on what to do regarding the city. It will be a rental so perhaps having a breaker box three feet from a showe isn't a good idea anyways. 

Any thoughts woukd be appreciated!