DES permits for a deck???

[jazzman]

Does anyone know how hard (is it even possible?), to get a DES permit to extend a deck into the 50 foot buffer?

My house currently has a 4 foot deep deck across the front which is next to useless because it's only wide enough to walk on. The deck is pretty close to the 50 foot mark. It would be 10x more useful if it was 8 feet deep. Is this sort of permitting DIY, or do I need to hire a professional and turn this into a very expensive project.

FWIW, it's a wooden deck about 2 feet off the ground with 1/4" spacing between deck boards, so runoff isn't a huge issue and the yard facing the lake is dead flat with a natural berm to the lake formed by 10,000 years of ice pushing rocks into the shoreline