Anyone who thinks it's easy to lure development to Pittsburgh has a short memory.

Right now, construction of the new Three PNC Plaza office tower on Fifth Avenue is well under way and high-end condominiums are selling at Piatt Place at the corner of Wood Street. On the North Shore, a new hotel is in the works near PNC Park and the city's new slots casino will open Sunday.

But the local development scene has not always been so active, something City Council members must keep in mind when they consider imposing new rules on developers seeking to do business here.

Some members have raised the possibility of linking development subsidies to the wages that would be paid by businesses that move in. Council President Doug Shields says whether they're owners or tenants, those businesses should have to pay their workers enough money so they're not eligible for food stamps or the state's Child Health Insurance Program.

A long list of developers who do business with the city say otherwise, and we agree with them.

Such regulation undoubtedly would increase the cost of doing business in Pittsburgh, and the city is not an island; developers need only travel a few miles to the suburbs to avoid such a restriction. The situation would be different if a larger region, preferably the whole state, had the same rules in place.

This is not to say the city should not impose conditions on developers that accept subsidies funded by taxpayers. For instance, a measure crafted by Councilman Bill Peduto and enacted last month requires them to meet green building standards, which promises environmental payback for the city and the developer.

Maybe City Council can find a way to encourage developers to build close to public transit, for instance. There must be other ways, too, for the city to tie subsidies to outcomes that benefit the taxpayers, methods that aren't as risky as dictating wage rates for future Pittsburgh employers.