That situation is not that uncommon, really. I work with local zoning ordinances all the time in my day job and you'd be surprised how many people with the authority to change an ordinance that makes no sense won't change it, even though that have no idea what the logic was for creating the ordinance in the first place.

I'm not saying that's the case here, I'm just wondering. Most times there are very good reasons for a restrictive rule. It's just nice to know what the reasons are. It makes living with the restriction much easier to take when you have an understanding.