A US appellate court rejected Verizon's request for an expedited timetable for processing of an appeal by a neighbor of its proposed data center site in New York State's Niagara County.

Judges of the 4th Department of the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court in Rochester said Verizon's motion was premature, giving Mary Ann Rizzo, owner of a property across the street from the proposed site, and her attorney until 11 April to file the full record of the case, Buffalo News reported.

Rizzo sued Verizon, and a number of city, county and state agencies in November 2010, accusing them of rushing through the approval process for tax breaks for the construction project and failing to follow due process. Niagara County court ruled against Rizzo in January and she and her attorney filed for an appeal.

Following court-granted filing by Rizzo's attorney of the full case record, Verizon, the Town of Somerset, Niagara County and others will have 30 days to respond to his arguments.

In the documents it submitted to the court, Verizon reportedly said a normal appeals-process timetable could put its plans to build the $4bn data center in Somerset in jeopardy. The company is also considering a site in Laramie, Wyoming, for the build, but its spokesman told Buffalo News it was possible it would build on both sites.