Jack Ginnery and Kelly Hagens-Swart both live on Senn Street, but they don't live on the same street.

Ginnery's Senn Street is in Graniteville, while Hagens-Swart's home is on Senn Street in Vaucluse. Throughout the county, there are dozens of examples of the same or similarly named streets, often in the same fire district, which can be problematic for emergency responders.

Imagine the confusion of a dispatcher or fire crew trying to determine whether the call is at Valley View Court or Valley View Street. How about Cherry Lane or Cherry Street? Willis Circle or Willis Road? Short Drive or Short Street? And the list goes on.

Aiken County officials are looking at renaming some roads to eliminate confusion. In the case of Senn Street, the proposed name change would be in Graniteville, to Rookie Way.

Ginnery said he will not be bothered by the change if and when it comes.

Hagens-Swart said it is best the County is seeking to rename the Graniteville street because it is a "small dirt road on the wrong side of town."

She has lived on Senn Street in Vaucluse her entire life and does not want its history wiped clean with a name change.

"That would be absolutely ludicrous," she said. "County Council needs to look for another hobby."

Changing streets in the same fire district with the same or similar names is necessary to ensure emergency responders get to the location the 911 call originated from as soon as possible, County officials said.

"We want to make it as quick and easy for emergency services to get to your house," said Stephen Strohminger, director of County Planning and Development.

Cathy Randall, County E911 and Geographic Information System coordinator, echoed Strohminger's sentiments.

"When you're out running code, the very thing you don't need to be doing is running up and down the road three or four times," she said. "All we're trying to do is help people in a timely manner. The fire departments know their areas pretty well, but EMS workers these days don't live here, and they don't know."

The Aiken County E911 Division is responsible for assigning addresses to all occupied property in Aiken County.

Often, EMS workers notify E911 of duplicate road names. And spotting them happens more times than not, said EMS Coordinator Harvey Jay.

In the 1990s, the state of South Carolina gave local governments the power to standardize addressing for the E911 system. Included in that law are criteria that new street names must not duplicate or be similar to an existing street name in the local government's geographic area, and existing duplicate street names must be changed as necessary by the local government to ensure efficiency of the emergency response system.

The cities of Aiken and North Augusta also handle street names and addressing through the County's E911 system.

Typically, officials will propose changing the name of the street with the least amount of addresses.

"We try to minimize the impact," Strohminger said. "We send all tax parcel owners letters when the proposed change is up, and ask they please contact us to give their feedback. I understand to a degree (that people don't like change)."

The County will also take into account how long the road has been there, and the history behind its name.

Letters will also be sent to the U.S. Postal Service notifying it of the change. The Postal Service will forward mail to the new address for six months.

Despite complaints that may arise if a road name is changed, the County maintains it is for the common good.

"No one wants to change their road name, but someone has to make it safer," County Councilwoman LaWana McKenzie said recently.

Breakout info

Willis Circle and Willis Road

Camelia Drive and Camelia Street

Dallas Drive and Dallas Circle

Washington Avenue, Washington Circle, Washington Drive

Sizemore Avenue, Sizemore Circle, Sizemore Road

Birch Circle and Birch Road

Dorr Drive and Dorr Street

McKenzie Circle, McKenzie Court, McKenzie Place, McKenzie Street

Oakdale Avenue and Oakdale Drive

Aiken Road and Aiken Street

Pineview Circle and Pineview Drive

Walnut Court and Walnut Lane

Central Street and Central Avenue

Taylor Drive, Taylor Lane, Taylor Street