Does the crawlspace have a concrete floor, or is it dirt? If it's dirt, worst case, dig out some to make the inspector happy. Some locations have their own ammedments to national codes...this may be one of them. It's not one I've heard of, but then, I'm not a pro.
I might ask him for the code reference so you can read it in its entirety. Low overhead will make installation more troublesome as well as the inspection...