By JAMES FINK
jfink@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1611

An Amherst resident who owns property near the proposed Verizon data center project filed an appeal to a previous court ruling that dismissed her lawsuit against the planned $4 billion development.

Mary Ann Rizzo, through her attorney, Arthur Giacalone of East Aurora, filed the appeal with the state Appellate Division in Rochester.

At issue is a 40-page ruling, issued Jan. 14, by Acting Supreme Court Justice Matthew Murphy that discounted the claims made by Rizzo and Giacalone in the original lawsuit. The suit was filed in the fall after the Town of Somerset and several Niagara County agencies and entities approved the project.

Verizon is considering building the data center on a 179-acre parcel that adjoins the AEG Corp. property in Somerset. It sits across Lake Road from property that Rizzo and her family have owned for more than four decades.

"With all due respect to Judge Murphy, the court's decision seems to go out of its way to place me in a negative light, and excuse the behavior of the town and Verizon," Rizzo said in a statement issued by Giacalone. "We trust that the five-judge panel in Rochester will be in a better position to assess our legal claims in an impartial and apolitical manner."

Some say the lawsuit may put the Verizon project at risk. Besides Somerset, Verizon is considering other locations, including Wisconsin, to locate the center that initially will employ 200.

The company is expected to make a decision within a few weeks.