Well, there's an NEC section that sure uses a lot of words to say ... nothing!
H2O, it looks like the AHJ has given you a break. I also think the NEC is the wrong code to look at. While I'm not entirely sure of the source(fire code? building code? somewhere else?), the principle that every structure have some means of outside disconnect accessible to fire crews is pretty well established.
If the disconnect is to be at the service, you might be able to simply post a sign on the building advising of it's location.
Oddly enough, the section you cite is not the place where the main exception to this principle happens: farms. Farms will often have disconnects clusteres at the service, which is often a pole in the middle of a group of buildings.
The disco doesn't need to be a 'disconnect switch' as such; a main breaker with a shunt-trip would allow the use of a simple snip switch as the disconnecting means.
