ROCHESTER, Minn. - City officials are counting crows. As they work on renovations to Peace Plaza, DMC planners are making sure those pesky swarms of birds we're used to seeing in the downtown space won't be a fixture in the future.

In order to accomplish this, they're implementing a pretty simple solution - choosing different trees.

Planners have chosen the Regal Prince Oak to line Peace Plaza, a tree which is apparently narrow enough and shaped in a way that crows don't like to land on them.

Michael Wojcik of the Rochester City Council says it's just one improvement Rochester residents can look forward to in the new Peace Plaza.

"When this project is done, we're going to have something that's about five times the size of the old Peace Plaza, and it's going to be a lot more pleasant than what we had before," Wojcik said. "I think the community is going to love it when its done, almost as much as they hate it while its going on."

Wojcik went on to say the new trees will help create green space, and make downtown feel more like a park.